Lehman’s Del Rosario: what a great surprise

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There was nothing in Amely Del Rosario’s high school basketball years at the John F. Kennedy Campus that could have predicted the storied career she would enjoy — and continues to enjoy — at Lehman College.

Because of a roster that was top-heavy in upperclassmen, Del Rosario was relegated to the junior varsity in her sophomore year, played sparingly on the varsity in her junior season and enjoyed only moderate success as a senior when she averaged “about six points a game,” if her memory serves.

“I was getting recruited by Hunter College for a while, but I just didn’t feel comfortable there, so then me and my mom [Olga Garcia] came here to Lehman to speak to coach [Eric] Harrison and after we spoke I was like, ‘Ok, this is where I’m going,’” Del Rosario said.

It was not much of a recruiting process. Not a lot of visiting campuses, no choosing among college suitors, not many coaches banging down her door for her services. But what Harrison was lucky enough to land was a 5-foot-5 point guard that was a program-changer and very possibly the greatest women’s basketball player in Lehman College history, proving again that big things really do come in small packages.

“We’ve had some very, very talented players here in my 19 years,” said Harrison, the all-time wins leader in women’s basketball in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC). “But I think she is the most talented player and the most fun to coach because you can see that she listens. She’s probably the most talented we’ve ever had here. A lot of coaches who I’ve coached against for years, all over the country where we’ve played, all they do is rave about her. I don’t know if we’ll ever get another one like her. But she is the most talented player I’ve coached here in my 19 years.”

The list of achievements and accolades is long and continuing to grow. It began in her freshman season when the little-known guard from Kennedy burst on the scene at Lehman and was named the CUNYAC Rookie of the Week a staggering six times, was dubbed the CUNYAC and East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Rookie of the Year and was crowned Lehman’s Most Valuable Player.

Lots of awards

Last season, anyone in basketball circles who hadn’t yet heard of Del Rosario got up to speed in a hurry, as she was named the CUNYAC’s Preseason Player of the Year, before she went out and led Lehman to its first CUNYAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in nine seasons. Along the way, she racked up five conference Player of the Week awards, including three weeks in a row, topped the 1,000-point career mark in scoring, posted a school-record 48 points in a victory over Hunter College, was named the CUNYAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, scored 30 points in Lehman’s CUNYAC Tournament title game win over Brooklyn College, added 17 points and 11 assists in Lehman’s NCAA Tournament game against NYU and, finally, was named the CUNYAC Player of the Year.

So how much of what she has accomplished so far did Del Rosario see coming when she arrived at Lehman? Exactly none of it.

“Absolutely did not see this happening,” Del Rosario said. “In my freshman year, I was very quiet, because I didn’t think I could be the player that I am today. But then I started to get more confident, and my teammates involved me more, and they’d say, ‘Hey if you’re open, shoot the basketball.’ So my confidence grew, and then along came the accolades. But I never dreamed I’d be where I am now.”

The one thing Del Rosario lacks in her game is an ego. Harrison said despite her status as the school’s greatest women’s player, Del Rosario is a down-to-earth, team player who leads by example.

“She’s been great. She just comes in and brings a great attitude,” Harrison said. “She comes in every day and competes. She brings that enthusiasm that makes people want to come out and see our games. She has that enthusiasm that makes her teammates want to play harder. She’s opened the door here for a lot more players to want to come here and play. She’s a Division I-type player who is in our lineup every single day and she’s done a tremendous job representing our program and our school in a positive way.”

So far this season, Del Rosario has just picked up from where she left off last season.

In a season-opening victory over Ferrum College, Del Rosario went off for 41 points in just 35 minutes of action while draining seven three-pointers in 15 attempts. She also recorded six steals and six rebounds in the win. In her second game of the season, Del Rosario followed that performance up with a 27-point effort in a loss to Kean College in the championship game of the Kean Classic, before turning in her second 40-point performance of the season this past Saturday, when she scored 40 along with six assists in a loss at Rowan. That’s 108 points scored in just three games, for an average of 36 a game. No wonder Harrison always seems to be in a good mood.

“It’s funny we have a [2015-16] championship highlight video online, it’s about three minutes long, and you’d swear it was an individual highlight tape for Amely,” Harrison said. “The whole thing shows a bunch of her highlights. The whole team saw the video and nobody got jealous and no one was upset that they weren’t in the video. They were just excited to watch the things that she did to singlehandedly lead us in that game to the championship.”

Because of the departure of a talented senior class from last year’s championship team, Del Rosario will be called upon to be more of a vocal leader this year than in the past. Being vocal is not something Del Rosario has been in the past, even if it gave her a chance to show off her spot-on British accent (which she used for a small part of her interview and which was, as the Brits say, brilliant). But it’s a role she says she will accept for the benefit of the team.

Learning to be a leader

“I basically had to learn to be a leader. Last year, I took on part of that role, but we did have four seniors,” Del Rosario said. “They were more of the vocal one and I was more of the ‘bring-the-energy’ type of player. But this year, coach has explained to me that being that I am the only senior on the team this year, I’m going to have to be that vocal leader. It’s been happening slowly but it’s going to happen. Take my word for it.”

It’s not wise to ever doubt Del Rosario, as she evidenced by her stellar career – one which she would like to see end a lot like last year’s, with another CUNYAC championship and a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. But with a win or two this time around.

“So far that was the highlight of my career, winning the CUNY and going to the NCAAs,” Del Rosario said. “I had never won a championship, not a middle school or high school or anywhere. It was a great feeling knowing that when me and [former Lehman seniors Jennifer] Navarro, Amani [Lightbourne] and Karrin [Walker] all came out on that floor, we knew that was going to be our year. So I want to get back to the NCAAs but we want to win it this year. Last year we had an opportunity but we came up short but this year we have found great replacements for what we did lose.”

It seems like only yesterday when Del Rosario arrived at Lehman, and now there are only three months remaining in her sterling career. And she knows the clock is ticking.

“It’s been shocking. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is my last year,’” Del Rosario said. “It’s already here. The seasons just go by so fast. So you always have to play every game like it’s your last game. So every game this year will be played like it’s my last one.”

And when it’s all over, after many more points are piled up, a few CUNYAC Player of the Week awards are garnered and perhaps another conference Player of the Year tribute is earned, her legacy will be secure in Lehman lore.

So how might the school remember its greatest women’s basketball player of all time? Perhaps by naming a building after her?

 

“Yes! Amely Hall,” Del Rosario said laughing.

Amely Del Rosario, Lehman College, women's basketball, Sean Brennan

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