By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Lady Jaspers of Manhattan College struck gold this past recruiting season when they convinced Cherokee High School’s Monica Roeder to commit to their basketball program. Not only is the freshman guard/forward combo leading all rookies of the MAAC Conference in scoring, but she was recently elected to the MAAC all-rookie team.
Roeder, 18, has found herself on the starting five of the Lady Jaspers for the entire 2010–2011 basketball season as a freshman. Roeder was the first true freshman to start in a season opener for the Lady Jaspers in the past three seasons and averages about 9.1 points per game, best for all freshmen in the MAAC.
The Lady Jaspers finished third in the conference at the end of the regular season with a 21–8 record. This Friday they will travel to Fairfield, NY for the MAAC tournament.
She has been named the MAAC Rookie of the Week three times this season and the Player of the Week once. She is one of five nominees for the MAAC Rookie of the Year award, which will be announced on Thursday, March 3.
“She’s having a wonderful year so far. We recruited Monica very hard out of high school and we knew she was a special player. She has lived up to all of our expectations this season. She has started since day one, she had been a consistent scorer, a very good rebounder, and she’s become a very smart defensive player as well,” said John Olenowski, head coach of the Lady Jaspers for the past two seasons.
It was a difficult transition from the high school game to college, Roeder said, but her teammates and coaching staff helped her greatly.
The biggest difference between the college game and her high school experience? In high school, she said, each team would have one superstar and you’d gear yourself up to play against them.
“In college, everyone was the superstar on their high school teams,” she said. “The level of play is awesome, every game is back and forth.”
The game speed is so high at the collegiate level as well, she said, and something that you can only get used to through experience. One thing she would like to improve upon throughout her career at Manhattan is her foot speed and defense.
Luckily, her offensive skills have helped her make up for her lack in those areas so far.
If you had told Roeder before the season that she would have an opportunity to be named the MAAC Rookie of the Year, she said she never would have believed it. She credited her high school coach Shannon Bretz for helping her get ready for her college career and training her for the next level.
“I knew it would be hard to get playing time as a rookie, but you just have to work hard and do your best,” she said. “I definitely didn’t expect this.”
Come back to the Marlton Sun tomorrow after 3 p.m. to find out if Roeder is named the MAAC Rookie of the Year.
