By Joseph Staszewski
Shannon Barrett was getting a little uneasy as her senior season went along. The Christ the King guard didn’t have a college to play for next year. But then a text message intiated her college selection process.
Barrett was contacted by second-year Molloy College Coach Kate Lynch, who said she was interested in recruiting Barrett. The chance to play basketball for Lions intrigued Barrett, who was looking for a school close home.
“At that time I really didn’t have a school where I was going to go so I wound up looking around,” she said.
What the Middle Village native found was a Division II school where she felt comfortable and welcome when she visited in February. Barrett picked Molloy over Adelphi. Lynch told her she could be a big help to a program that went 14-14 overall in the 2013-14 season and 11-9 in the East Coast Conference.
“It just felt like home,” Barrett said. “I didn’t want to be to far from home, not to close. It is small. I didn’t need a big campus. I just wanted campus life.”
The Lions are getting a player who can do a little bit of everything on the basketball court and is a solid outside shooter. Christ the King Coach Bob Mackey believes she can step in and help Molloy right away. He described her as a hustler, a rebounder and someone who can score and handle the ball on offense.
“She can do a little bit of everything which is what I think she needs to do in that conference and she can assist on both ends,” Mackey said.
Barrett is the fourth Christ the King girls’ basketball senior to earn a scholarship. McDonald’s All-American Sierra Calhoun is headed to Duke, Kollyns Scarbrough will attend Siena and Kristen Drogsler signed with Caldwell. Like then, Barrett can now breathe easy as she finally has chosen her new home.
“It is so relieving,” Barrett said. “Now I have the rest of the summer and now I have something to look forward too.”
