Dancing With the Stars’ Maria Menounos yearbook photos

We aren’t ashamed of our serious Maria Menounos crush here at starcasm. The Extra co-host is about to take her energetic charm and seriously fine frame to ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and we think she’s got a good chance to Samba her way to the season 14 crown. She’s partnered up with Derek Hough and since we’re playing favorites we wondered if she had some athletic skills from her background that might translate well to the dance floor.

Turns out that Maria was a baller, shot-caller back in the day as a member of the Medford High School girls basketball team! The above photo shows a little heart breaker, and I can say that with conviction because her classmates voted her the “most likely person to break hearts.” But while she was making the boys crush in the halls of Medford she was also on point defensively on the basketball court.

Man it looks like Maria played ball back in the 40’s in that photo! I bet the girl she was guarding had game because to wear 33 in Massachusetts meant you were shouting out to Larry “Legend” Bird. This didn’t appear to be a prob for Maria as she extolled the virtues of woman-to-woman defense.

The former beauty queen who finished as a runner up for the title of Miss Massachusetts USA 2000 not only had what it took on the hard court but she also was an active “Peer Leader” and was a member of her student council.

Here is Maria (pictured back center) as a “Peer Leader.”

According to Medford High the Peer Leaders’ duty was to, “Educate and advise their fellow students on problems that confront teens. Subjects range from substance abuse to handling stress.” That and to forever be captured in black and white for the world to later see of course!

And here is one more back-in-the-day Maria gem as she poses on the stairs with her fellow student council classmates. Maria is the tall girl at front left.

So there you have it. She’s got the hard court skills, the brains and the beauty to be a serious contender. Will she be the “Peer Leader” that will steer the judges and the public to vote her way? We’ll have to tune in starting with a live 2-hour event premiere on Monday March, 19th at 8/7c to find out.

All Photos: MedfordHigh/Splash