BTN.com staff, November 10, 2011

Throughout the season the "Gimme 5" audio segment will spend about five minutes with Big Ten Conference women's basketball players with compelling stories or interesting backgrounds or who are making news on the court. The interviews are hosted by analyst Patricia Babcock McGraw, a former basketball player at Northwestern and now sports reporter at The Daily Herald. This week our analyst spoke with Purdue's Drey Mingo (full bio at PurdueSports.com).

She writes: There aren't many stories that are more compelling than that of Drey Mingo, a fifth-year senior on the Purdue women's basketball team. She beat life-threatening meningitis last November, returned to the court a month later and wound up earning all-Big Ten honors at the end of the season, despite losing a portion of her hearing in both ears. She was all set to finish out her career with a bang this season, but misfortune hit again in a recent preseason practice. Mingo is now out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Find out how she stays so positive, why she is hoping her Purdue career isn't quite over and what she plans to do with her life post-Purdue. Here's a hint: She's not going to be chef … but she can cook. Find out what Drey serves her teammates when they come to her apartment for dinner.

Listen to the interview now: