Jarosz 'pretty upset' after Marist exodus, hopes to return

Tori Jarosz was the first Red Fox this offseason to decide she would not return to the Marist College women's basketball team, opting to end her career rather than petition the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility.

Then, four more Red Foxes followed her out the door, leaving the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's premiere basketball program in a state of bewilderment, with five returning scholarship players.

"She was pretty upset with what the other players did," Marist coach Brian Giorgis said.

So, Jarosz changed her mind, adding another twist to one of the most unpredictable careers in school history. Marist announced Monday that it has formally applied for a medical hardship waiver, so that Jarosz can be granted an additional season of eligibility.

Giorgis said there is no timetable for when the NCAA may rule on Jarosz's case, but expressed optimism that his team could regain its center, who blossomed into a First Team All-MAAC performer this past season.

Jarosz, who was not made available for comment Monday, finished her bachelor's degree in communications in December and started a masters program in the spring.

"It's a way to finish her masters degree and help the young people out, and hopefully leave a legacy," the coach said. "It really showed a lot of maturity and integrity on her part."

Giorgis said Jarosz "got pretty close to people like Kendall" Baab, the lone returning scholarship post player on the team, who played 103 minutes this season as a freshman. "All of a sudden (Baab) was just going to be thrown to the wolves."

After playing six games for Vanderbilt as a freshman in 2010-11 and sitting out the following season due to NCAA transfer rules, Jarosz broke her hand in the opening game of 2012-13 and missed the rest of the season.

She then ruptured an Achilles tendon the following offseason, causing her to miss the first 11 games of 2013-14 and spent the rest of the season out of rhythm.

It was an injury that helped lead Jarosz to choose to end her career originally, Giorgis said, taking a share of the blame. Five days before Marist's season-ending loss to Temple in the WNIT, the center rolled an ankle. She played in the game — providing 15 points and 10 rebounds — but was unable to practice much beforehand.

"The first problem was me," the coach said. "We lost on a Thursday night and I'd asked for a decision Monday, which was too soon. ... She was a little beat up after that. She just felt too beat up."

However, a week after the game, Giorgis said Jarosz confided in director of basketball operations Leanne Ockenden, a friend and former teammate, that she missed the sport already.

"Then everything came down," he said, alluding to First Team All-MAAC forward Madeline Blais, backup point guard Brittni Lai, and forwards Katharine Fogarty and Payton Birchmeier deciding to transfer out of the school, one-by-one. "The match that lit the fire is when the kids left."

Recent precedent is on Marist's side. Wisconsin forward Michala Johnson was granted a similar medical hardship waiver in May, after tearing an ACL and missing most of her fifth season. Like Jarosz, she had previously sat out a season as a transfer, having left UConn in 2012.

The Red Foxes' string of 11 consecutive MAAC regular-season titles and nine consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament were ended by Quinnipiac this season. Counting Vanderbilt's trip in 2011, Jarosz's teams have reached the NCAA tournament four times, but she's only able to compete in one of them — Marist's loss to Iowa in 2014.

Jarosz lead the team in several categories last season, with 17.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, making 49.7 percent of her shots. Her 71 blocks set Marist's single-season record.

"She could be a 1,000-point scorer if she does the same thing she did this year," Giorgis said. She is 351 points away from that total. She is also 64 blocks away from surpassing Diesa Seidel's program record of 162 rejections in a career.

Regardless of the NCAA's decision, Giorgis said his team is done making moves for next season. On May 21, the school announced it had signed Swedish point guard Rebecka Garderyd and Icelandic post Lovisa Bjort Henningsdottir to National Letters of Intent for the fall semester, adding to three previous scholarship recruits, combo guard Jordyn Jossart, wing Maura Fitzpatrick and forward Morgan Bartner.

Mike Benischek: mbenisch@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4722, Twitter: @BenischekPJ

Tori Jarosz

Career (2010-2015): 57 games played (6 for Vanderbilt, 51 for Marist); 49 games missed due to injury

Points: 649 (11.4 per game)

Rebounds: 352 (6.2 per game)

Blocks: 99 (1.7 per game); Marist record 71 blocks this season

Career-highs: 25 points (Feb. 12, 2015 vs. Quinnipiac); 17 rebounds (March 9, 2015 vs. Quinnipiac); 7 blocks (Dec. 21, 2014 vs. South Dakota State)