By Marc Raimondi
Joya McFarland didn’t just want to go somewhere she felt wanted. The John F. Kennedy senior wanted a college where she was needed.
Queens College Coach Bet Naumovski gave her that exact feeling.
“She wants me to lead her team and she expects a lot from me,” McFarland said. “She had the highest expectations for me out of all the recruiters I’ve spoken to over the years.”
The 5-foot-5 sharpshooter made it official May 7, signing a National Letter of Intent to play women’s basketball for Naumovski at Queens.
The fit, McFarland believed, was perfect. Naumovski, the second-year coach, is in the midst of a rebuilding project at Queens, which went 1-25 and 0-16 in East Coast Conference play this year. McFarland said she was told she’d play right away and make an immediate impact.
“The team had a rough season last year and they’re rebuilding,” McFarland said. “[Naumovski] wants me to play a big role in that.”
The Bronx native received nearly a full athletic scholarship. In her time at Kennedy, McFarland was one of the best three-point shooters in New York City and the team’s best pure scorer. This season and last summer with her CAS Douglass travel team under Coach Jeff Paige, she showed more point guard skills.
That’s exactly what she’ll be next year with the Knights and she’ll have a great mentor in former Christ the King and St. John’s star Sky Lindsay, who is an assistant.
“She can shoot,” Kennedy Coach O’Neil Glenn said of McFarland. “She has a nice handle. I think she’ll be very good there. She’s a tough kid. She’s been through the Kennedy system.”
McFarland, who said she might major in communications, is excited about QC’s superior academics and the campus. She wasn’t concerned with Division I schools, though she did have interest from Cleveland State and Jacksonville. Staying home was important to her, because she’s close with her father, Leverne, who works in Queens on weekends. McFarland was also considering Mercy College, New Paltz, ASA and Monroe Community College.
“They’re young,” Glenn said of Queens. “She can really do some things there. It’s a full ride. I’m happy for her.”
McFarland is happy, too. She plans on taking the opportunity to play right away and run with it.
“I’m one of her primary choices for the guard position in her first recruiting class at Queens,” McFarland said, “so it’s kind of an honor.”
