Maria Fantanarosa

• Post by: mcalibrary
• December 20, 2023
• Comments off

INDUCTEE

The thing you remember about Maria Fantanarosa as a basketball player is this non-stop, all-out, go all the time whirlwind. She was everywhere. She could shoot great…that’s proven by the fact the she is still the State’s all-time leading scorer…for both men and women. But don’t think that she was some kind of ball hog who just shot all the time. She played smothering defense, and hounded the ball from end line to end line. And she was a terrific leader and probably the most popular girl on the team.

Her scoring records: 3823 career points and 1309 single season points have become far more liberal in favor of the scorer in the 12 years since Maria set those marks.

After leaving Mt. Carmel she attended Miami of Ohio, where she continued her outstanding play. She was team captain as a senior and led the team in scoring and assists. She is one of only six women players to score more than 1000 points at Miami of Ohio.

After graduation, Maria coached High School basketball while getting a Masters Degree from Xavier in Sports Administration. She was also part of the Xavier coaching staff with responsibilities for scouting, recruiting and coaching perimeter play. During a 4-year stint at Xavier her team was 74 and 41.

Her present position is with the University of South Carolina’s Lady Gamecocks. She serves as scouting coordinator and is co-director of the University’s summer Basketball Camp. Her coaching responsibilities include teaching defense and shooting to the perimeter plays. She is now in her third year with South Carolina.