Jan. 4, 2006

By now the story of Southampton athletes is well-told. Dismissed by a college that closed its undergraduate programs and its athletic department last spring, the students scattered around the nation in search of new teams. Some of the lucky ones had teams in search of them. Leah Getz was one of those.

"We needed a backup point guard and we liked what we saw so we recruited her," said Stony Brook University coach Maura McHugh, who found a place for Getz on her roster.

McHugh, in her own first year at Stony Brook, was tipped off to Getz by former Southampton coach Pat McGunnigle. It's not often a Division I coach will get a call from a Division II coach asking if she wants to take his best player. "It was very unusual circumstances," McHugh conceded.

Everything about the past year was unusual for Getz, who was the NYCAC rookie of the year as a freshman at Southampton, and second team All-NYCAC last season.

At Southampton she played on a team that went 16-11, even though it played with only eight players and had a coaching change early in the season (McGunnigle resigned five games in).

"It was a rough situation and a couple of people bailed out," Getz said. "But picking up and leaving wasn't really an option for me."

It was that toughness, both mentally and physically, that attracted Stony Brook to Getz, a guard not afraid to go to the rim against any defender. So far the situation has paid off. Coming off the bench for the first time in her career, Getz is averaging 4.9 points and 16.1 minutes for the Seawolves (7-4).

"If I can provide a spark I'm glad," she said, "as long as we win and we're playing well, it doesn't matter."

Getz injured her wrist against St. John's on Dec. 17 and has missed two games, including last night's 65-56 victory at Bucknell. She'll be available to play in the America East opener at home against Vermont on Saturday.

Most people celebrated a new year and a fresh start last weekend, but for Getz that dawn occurred in July when she arrived at Stony Brook for informal workouts.

"I knew I needed to put in extra time to make that jump," Getz said of her early indoctrination. "I wanted to get into the flow of things."

There were so many things to learn and adjust to. New plays, a new role, a new coaching staff with a new way of doing things. In those first days on campus, though, Getz found something that wasn't quite as new.

"I know you from somewhere," senior guard Jessie Boylan told Getz during that summer transition. "I've got pictures of you."

Turned out, the two went to the same grade school in Ohio - before Boylan moved to Arizona - and played basketball together as fourth and fifth graders.