Relentless game turns Manhattan around

Manhattan women’s basketball coach John Olenowski didn’t have much to celebrate last year as his Lady Jaspers stumbled through a forgettable 3-27 season. But things are looking decidedly rosier in Riverdale this season for Olenowski’s crew. He can thank a little homesickness coupled with a rock solid friendship for turning his team’s fortunes around.

The first step toward restoring the luster to Manhattan’s program came when Amani Tatum, a Queens native and an All-City player from Archbishop Molloy High School, decided that James Madison University in Virginia was just a little too far for her liking and decided that playing close to home is what she wanted to do. So after her freshman season, Tatum chose Manhattan as her new collegiate home.

While she was sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Tatum, the Lady Jaspers flashy new point guard, delivered the first assist of her Jaspers career when she coaxed her best friend and former teammate, Crystal Ross, to also leave James Madison and join her at Manhattan.

And Tatum was not about to take no for an answer.

“Amani was talking to me all of last year trying to get me to come up here,” Ross said. “And when Coach Olenowski called me to come and visit the school, she was in my ear the whole time, the entire time. She wouldn’t let me say no even if I wanted to.”

Relentlessness, you see, is part of Tatum’s game.

“It started (last year),” Tatum said. “We were so close at JMU. She showed me the ropes and took me under her wing so I was like, ‘It would be soooo great if you came here with me. Soooo great.’ I kept saying it. I told her, ‘C’mon it’s your last year and if you go somewhere else you won’t know anyone. It would be a good experience for both of us and we could do something great.’”

And so far the early returns are promising for Tatum, Ross and the Lady Jaspers. Already this season through nine games Manhattan has surpassed last year’s overall win totals while tying its’ Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) mark as they are already 2-0 in conference play this season. They were 2-18 last year.