By Joseph Staszewski
Nyasha Irizarry said she didn’t quite understand while she was growing up the magnitude of earning a college scholarship to play basketball.
The Archbishop Molloy rising senior hadn’t always noticed the multitude of college coaches at her travel ball games. It wasn’t until she verbally committed to Manhattan College to play women’s basketball that she fully grasped what she accomplished.
“When you are younger, you don’t notice how much basketball can bring you to college,” Irizarry said. “It’s a big deal. When I caught on, getting a Division I scholarship is a big accomplishment.”
The 5-foot-10 Irizarry visited the Bronx school in the spring and immediately felt comfortable with Jaspers Coach John Olenowski and the school itself. She liked its small size and the quality of the education, especially the biology program.
“It wasn’t too big,” said Irizarry, who is interested in becoming a veterinarian. “The classes were small. I knew everything was going to be really good education-wise. It seemed like it would be a really good fit there.”
Irizarry is a pure shooter and feels the Jaspers system will accentuate her strengths. The scholarship wouldn’t have been possible, however, without her working on her weakness. She knew she had to break the perception that she was nothing more than a spot up shooter, who doesn’t really drive to the basket. She got that chance with her Gauchos/NYC Bulldogs travel ball team, which lacked a true point guard early in the summer. It forced Irizarry from the wing and put the ball in her hand more often. She began setting up teammates to score as well as shooting herself.
“We had to lean on Nyasha to bring the ball up the court and she did a great job of it,” travel ball Coach Tom Catalanotto said. “She had to help lose some scoring, but she helped her teammates out.”
Catalanotto, whose daughter Christine is an assistant coach at Manhattan, praised Irizarry for her commitment to improving during this past summer in all facets of her life. She uses both ends of the floor, getting around defenders and stealing balls in the passing lanes, and improving her footwork on defense impressed a number of college coaches, including those at a Jaspers team looking to rebuild in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Her role will expand this season with Molloy. Irizarry, who started last year, will need to score more for a reloading Stanners, which graduated stars Amani Tatum, Carolyn Gallagher and Alexa Dietrich from a team that won the school’s first CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I regular season title over the winter. She wants to continue to show people her well-rounded game.
“People can lock down a shooter, by just taking away her shot,” Irizarry said. “I had to show when people started to take away my shot that I would be able to drive to the basket.”
