Maryland junior forward Marissa Coleman went to her father as a middle schooler and told him she wanted to be a great basketball player.
So, along with the normal encouragement any parent would offer a child, Marissa?s father, Tony, made sure his daughter understood the commitment it took to achieve greatness, including getting up early for workouts and training harder than everyone else.
“When I talked to my dad, he told me this is what I have to do to reach my goals,” Marissa Coleman said. “It wasn?t easy. When I got grounded, I had to run up and down this hill in my back yard. I didn?t like it then, but it?s paid off now.”
That is an understatement as Coleman is averaging 16.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and is a nearly 40 percent three-point shooter for fourth-ranked Maryland, which host Boston College (17-7, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) at 7 tonight at the Comcast Center. The visiting Eagles are the next team on the Terrapins schedule who is likely to find out why Coleman, a Cheltenham native, is considered one of the most versatile and dangerous players in the country. Virginia was the latest team to find this out after Coleman scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in an 86-80 win Friday night for Maryland (25-2, 9-1).
Coleman has developed a flare for coming through with big shots in big games during her three-year career in College Park. This includes scoring six points during a pivotal 13-2 run against Virginia (17-5, 5-2), whose only conference losses have come against Maryland.
This performance came less than a month after Coleman matched her career-high by scoring 30 points as Maryland defeated Duke, 85-70, for the first win over the Blue Devils in College Park in nearly 10 years. Against Duke, Coleman scored seven points on a three-pointer, a layup and two free throws during a late 13-2 run to put the game away.
“Like we?ve said all along: Marissa is a match-up nightmare,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said recently. “She is really strong, which is something we?ve worked extremely hard on and Marissa?s put the time in with her game. I thought she is phenomenal to watch.”
Conditioning is something Coleman has worked a lot on over the last year, which she felt helped her over the summer when she was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. under-21 national team. Also during the offseason, she would often wake up early and shoot around with Maryland men?s basketball team guard Greivis Vasquez.
“Those workouts really helped out,” Coleman said. “It?s not easy to get up in the morning and work out by yourself. Working together helped me focus.”
