It was almost a year ago when Meagan Eripret made her decision.

Last Tuesday, the Salisbury senior made it official.

As one of the area's top talents, Eripret signed her college letter of intent to continue her basketball career at Lehigh University. She gave her verbal commitment to the Mountain Hawks last February.

Being around the Mountain Hawks' program since she was young, it's not a complete shock that the latest Salisbury 1,000-point scorer chose Lehigh.

Meghan's mother, Bridget Eripret, was an assistant coach at Lehigh under current head coach Sue Troyan. Meghan spent plenty of time around the Lehigh campus and grew accustomed to the school's tradition. After her final season as a member of the Falcons, she'll become a part of that family starting next fall.

"For me, it was kind of an easy decision because I've been around Lehigh my entire life," Eripret said. "It's been something I've wanted since I was little. The fact that one day I would like to play Lehigh basketball, this is like a dream come true."

When it came down to her final decision, Eripret looked at a number of other Patriot League schools, with Lehigh and Boston University atop her list. In addition to visits to both of those schools, Eripret took a trip to Holy Cross as well.

After a few weeks of pondering the Lehigh tradition versus the enticing area of Boston, Eripret informed her parents and coach of her decision.

"After I sat down and really weighed everything, I realized this was the best place for me," Eripret said.

"The team has been nice to me since day one…They were really genuinely interested in me."

One of the biggest positives about joining Lehigh is Eripret's relationship with Troyan.

"She was the same coach that coached here when my mom was here," Eripret said. "So I've known her since I was little. That's another thing. Sometimes when you're going into a new place, you're a little uncomfortable. But I've known her forever, and I trust her with everything."

She has been a dominating presence in the Colonial League and throughout the Lehigh Valley basketball landscape for much of her career, but it wasn't until after her sophomore year that playing Division I basketball became a real possibility.

With the continued exposure throughout the AAU circuit, her training from Jason Brader at FASST (Functional, Athletic, Speed, Strength, Training) Performance, and her growth on the high school courts, Eripret made that dream a reality nine months ago.

"That's when I really started to realize that it was a possibility, and I really started to wrap my head around it," Eripret said. "For me, I felt such an exponential jump between my sophomore and junior year ability-wise."

The Mountain Hawks finished last season at 13-18 (5-13 in the Patriot League) and fell to No. 1 Navy in the league tournament quarterfinal round, 84-54.

A little more than a week into this season-Troyan's 20th at the helm-the Mountain Hawks are a perfect 3-0 as of Sunday.

Eripret is undecided on what she would like to major in.