Marissa Coleman won a national championship in her freshman season at Maryland
in 2006. Playing alongside fellow WNBA stars Crystal Langhorne and Kristi
Toliver, Coleman helped the Terrapins defeat North Carolina and Duke in the
Final Four to claim their first national title.
Coleman is now entering her fourth season with the Indiana Fever, and she’s
currently finishing an overseas campaign in Turkey. From afar, she’s hoping to
watch her Terrapins get back to the destination she and her teammates reached a
decade ago.
By Marissa Coleman, as told to WNBA.com
People always ask me what I remember most about our national championship
season. The answer is easy – the people I was with.
That’s what helped us win the championship. It sounds cliché, but we really were
like a family. From the players to the coaches, trainers and everyone, it was a
special thing. I’m biased, but I don’t think many teams had something close to
what we had.
Winning is always great. But when you can do something of that magnitude, and
you’re surrounded by people you love and care about, people you know will be in
your life forever, it makes it even more special.
If you would have asked me then, I would have said we’re going back to the
championship three more times. But it’s just hard to get back. My sophomore
year, we got knocked out in the second round by Ole Miss. You never know what’s
going to happen. So my advice to the Terps is just enjoy the moment, whether you
get to the championship or not. Just playing alone is a blessing. Not a lot of
people can say they played in the NCAA Tournament. Just enjoy each and every
moment.
Maryland had gone to the Final Four two straight years, but then last season
proved that nothing is guaranteed. Every game at this point could be your last.
You have to leave it all on the court. I’m sure the team is determined to avoid
losing on our home court again. I know we have two seniors, Brionna Jones and
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who certainly don’t want to end their careers with
another loss in College Park.
They want to get to the Final Four again and compete for the national
championship.
Even though we might have to face UConn before the Final Four, it really doesn’t
matter what region you’re in. Any team that wants to win the championship is
going to have to go through UConn at some point. It’s inevitable. So whether
it’s in their region or on the other side of the bracket, in my opinion they
will have to go through UConn.
It would be awesome if Maryland was the team to dethrone them. It’s amazing what
UConn has done. If we could knock them off and go on to win the championship, it
would be something for those players to remember the rest of their lives.
