Spring Break
The Daily OrangeWBB | Team historian: Tracy Harbut knows how far SU has come over her 5-year career
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 2/11/08, 10:32 PM EST Section: Sports
Right away, Hillsman sat down with Harbut and reassured her he wanted her to return to the team, telling her he thought she could contribute the next season.
At the time, though, not everyone thought she would actually be back.
"The fact that she got hurt, I thought she was done," Michael said. "Thank God she was able to come back, and she's doing great."
Coming from a background in exercise science, Harbut said she knew immediately the injury would heal in time to play this season. When she saw Hillsman's recruits, including Erica Morrow and Chandrea Jones, Harbut realized this would be the best team of her five seasons.
From there, the decision was easy.
"I wanted to come back," Harbut said. "I wanted to play for Coach Q. I wanted to play my last year, and I didn't want to end my career on the bench."
She's definitely not the same player this year she was two seasons ago. Harbut plays every game with a large, clunky black brace over her entire knee, and her numbers have dropped substantially from her junior year. She's averaging only 11.4 minutes per game now and scoring 1.4 points, partially because of the talented newcomers like Morrow, Jones and freshman Tasha Harris.
But she's playing - and Syracuse is winning.
It's been a long road to finally reach the prospect of important games in mid-March. Harbut was recruited by Marianna Freeman, who coached SU from 1993-2003, but she never played a game for her. Freeman resigned after a 10-18 season before Harbut stepped on campus, so she played the beginning of her career for Keith Cieplicki, not the coach who convinced her to spurn an offer from Miami (Ohio) and Ohio State, among others.
Although she was suspended for part of her freshman year for violating the team's academic policy, Harbut began to establish herself as a legitimate role player in the Big East under Cieplicki. She played approximately 20 minutes per game her first two seasons, starting 27 contests during that time frame.
At the time, though, not everyone thought she would actually be back.
"The fact that she got hurt, I thought she was done," Michael said. "Thank God she was able to come back, and she's doing great."
Coming from a background in exercise science, Harbut said she knew immediately the injury would heal in time to play this season. When she saw Hillsman's recruits, including Erica Morrow and Chandrea Jones, Harbut realized this would be the best team of her five seasons.
From there, the decision was easy.
"I wanted to come back," Harbut said. "I wanted to play for Coach Q. I wanted to play my last year, and I didn't want to end my career on the bench."
She's definitely not the same player this year she was two seasons ago. Harbut plays every game with a large, clunky black brace over her entire knee, and her numbers have dropped substantially from her junior year. She's averaging only 11.4 minutes per game now and scoring 1.4 points, partially because of the talented newcomers like Morrow, Jones and freshman Tasha Harris.
But she's playing - and Syracuse is winning.
It's been a long road to finally reach the prospect of important games in mid-March. Harbut was recruited by Marianna Freeman, who coached SU from 1993-2003, but she never played a game for her. Freeman resigned after a 10-18 season before Harbut stepped on campus, so she played the beginning of her career for Keith Cieplicki, not the coach who convinced her to spurn an offer from Miami (Ohio) and Ohio State, among others.
Although she was suspended for part of her freshman year for violating the team's academic policy, Harbut began to establish herself as a legitimate role player in the Big East under Cieplicki. She played approximately 20 minutes per game her first two seasons, starting 27 contests during that time frame.
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reesie
posted 2/20/08 @ 12:25 PM EST
You are a very nice lady will you adopt me.I'm all ways at your games and i see kids with there moms and dads i picked you to be my mom because you seen me over the summer the lil girl with braids plays like a star. (Continued…)
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