Former Iowa basketball star Megan Gustafson adds “author” to her notable resume

Megan Gustafson is on a basketball tour, not a book tour.

Nonetheless, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year at Iowa was able to take a little time this weekend to discuss her new second career, as an author of a children’s book.

It’s called “Pancake’s Passport.” The book is available on Amazon, where it has been selling well since its Wednesday launch.

“I’ve always been wanting to write a book,” Gustafson said Friday from Washington, D.C., hotel, the day before her Las Vegas Aces played the Washington Mystics Saturday afternoon on the start of a 3-game road trip.

“My dad’s a published author, I think four or five books. I kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps, but do my own stories. We’ve kind of pitched ideas back and forth. It’s really been a lifelong dream.

“It’s been a year-and-a-half and more in the making this book, and I wanted to incorporate as many areas of my life as possible. I’ve got the Iowa connection. I talk about that in the intro chapter. I talk about each of the WNBA teams, and so all of those fan bases can kind of tune in and read and kind of remember when I was there or when Pancake was there, and then with the Aces now and (where she has played) overseas.”

So who is Pancake? That’s Gustafson’s Corgi, a nice little doggy who has been with the player since 2020, the year after she was an WNBA draft pick following her dominant 2018-19 season at Iowa. That’s when she averaged 27.8 points and 13.4 rebounds and earned her second-straight Big Ten Player of the Year award.

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Pancake had built a big fan-following before the book. The dog has been with its owner at all four of her WNBA stops in Dallas, Washington, Phoenix and Las Vegas. In WNBA offseasons, the duo have lived in Hungary, Greece, Poland and England when she played professionally there. This offseason, it will be Turkey.

“In a lot of areas in Europe, Corgis are pretty rare,” Gustafson said, “so whenever people see her walking around over there they kind of get super-curious. So she gets a lot of attention.

“She's brought so much joy to my life, and kids just really love her. I thought (writing the book) could be a great way to kind of connect with kids.”

In the book, Gustafson and Pancake hit all their past stops in the U.S. and Europe. Each chapter features a different animal. Since Gustafson played for the London Lions team that won the Women’s EuroCup last year, a chapter has a lion named Leo who is the team’s play-by-play announcer, with a curious Pancake invited to do color commentary.

“Leo’s headset ends up not working and he’s in line to get a really big career jump,” Gustafson said, “These animal executives are judging him. But he gives up his job so Pancake can be the guest commentator the rest of the way.

“The chapters have little lessons like that, with selflessness being that one.”

In real life, Pancake has become a crowd-pleaser in Las Vegas, the second year for her and her owner there. At the Aces’ home game Thursday, Pancake “hosted” the Aces’ first annual Corgi races at halftime to help publicize Gustafson’s book launch. The dogs were brought in by Sin City Corgis, a very real organization in Las Vegas.

Pancake also got to enjoy the Aces’ 83-61 win over Phoenix that night from an arena suite. Usually, she and the dogs of several other Aces players and head coach Becky Hammon are tended to on game nights by the same dog-sitter, who has Aces jerseys for the dogs to wear with their “moms’ ” names and numbers.

“We call them the Aces Pups,” said Gustafson. The dogs all go there and hang out, and there’s a pool in the backyard.“

Not all dogs are fond of the water, but being in Las Vegas heat in the summer would make any creature enjoy a pool.

The basketball has been going swimmingly for the Aces lately. Gustafson is a reserve for a 24-14 team that beat Washington on Saturday for a 10th-straight victory. The Aces will pursue their third WNBA title in the last four seasons when the playoffs start next month.

She says she hopes to continue playing for a while, and hasn’t ruled out trying to participate in a second Summer Olympics with Spain’s national team.

In the meantime, there are book sales to watch.

“It’s already cracked the top 2,000 bestsellers of all books on Amazon,” Gustafson said. “I’m really, really excited. Obviously, I’m kind of overwhelmed by all the support.”

Presumably, so is Pancake.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com