Date: Fri 15-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Lynn-Lattanzio-St.-John's

Full Text:

Lynn Lattanzio - Four Years At St. John's

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

JAMAICA, NY - For three years with the Newtown High School girls' basketball

team, Lynn Lattanzio was the boss . . . finding personal success and accolades

served up like a seven-course dinner at the Rainbow Room.

But when she entered St. John's University on a four-year scholarship, Lynn -

who is Newtown High School's career leader in points (1,115) and rebounds

(787) - found out she not only had to bring her lunch pail to work, she had to

start punching a clock, too.

"It wasn't too hard of an adjustment," said Lynn, "because I knew coming in,

as a freshman, that I wouldn't play much and I totally accepted that. It was

tough going from where you're the leading scorer to being 12th off the bench,

but it's an adjustment you have to make and even though some people find it

hard, I knew it was going to happen."

Lynn was recruited by the Red Storm the summer between her junior and senior

years at Newtown High School and she was happy enough with the idea of

attending the New York university that she signed a National Letter of Intent

in October of 1991.

Before her senior season began.

Before she became Newtown High School's all-time leading female scorer.

Before she became the only female in Newtown High School history to score

1,000 points.

"When I signed in October," said Lynn, "it was such a relief to get everything

out of the way. Recruiting is such a whirlwind, but in my last year I was able

to concentrate on other things . . . on basketball."

It was in her final year at Newtown High that Lynn scored 455 points, leaping

over Laura Oberstadt, Jennifer Wyslick and Kasey Keating to become the Lady

Indians' all-time leading scorer and only player in history to eclipse the

1,000-point plateau. Not only that, Lynn also became the program's all-time

leading rebounder, as well.

An All-WCC nomination was a lock.

All-State status was a given.

And all of this came just a few months after Lynn completed an outstanding

soccer career in which she was named All-WCC twice and All-State once, that

after she led the team in scoring her senior year.

Things seemed to come easy for Lynn at Newtown, but her shift from high school

life to collegiate life in the summer of 1992 gave her a new perspective on it

all.

"Right off the bat," she said, "it was just so much work. You start playing in

September and don't finish until March and do over 20 hours a week. In

Newtown, you play because it's fun, but here you play because, as they say,

it's your job."

Her freshman year, she scored just 43 points and averaged 1.5 a game. As a

sophomore, that climbed a bit to 116 points and 4.1 a game, Then, as a junior,

Lynn started becoming more of a team leader and had a good year, scoring 152

points and 5.6 a game.

"I'm happy with the way and how much I have played," said Lynn, who had to

find new dimensions to her game - like an outside shot - if she were to help

the team succeed. "I knew I would never be a leading scorer or the go-to

person, but I accepted that role as a player, that I was not going to a big

Division I scorer. It was something I thought about when I was being

recruited. I had a choice of going to a lower Division I or Division II

school, or go to a Big East school, and I took that challenge fully knowing

what to expect."

In her senior year, though, Lynn - a tri-captain - became an integral part of

the St. John's offense. She scored 157 points, averaged 6.5 a game, and put up

efforts of 25 (against Niagara), 17 (against Boston College and Mississippi

Valley), and 14 (against Buffalo) - all game-highs - even as the Red Storm

women fought for ways to win.

In Lynn's four-year career, as the Red Storm went 41-69, her statistics read

165-of-404 (41%) from the floor and 138-of-242 from the free throw line (57%)

for 468 points. She finished with 441 rebounds, 79 assists, 81 steals and five

blocks.

"This year was particularly hard," Lynn admitted. "Things just never fell into

place. Being a senior, you want to go out with a bang and have a really good

season. I wish we had won more games, but I was happy with the way I played. I

tried to do as much as I could."

Sometimes, though, it just wasn't enough. The Red Storm finished 6-21 overall,

4-14 in the Big East, and were bounced in the first round of the Big East

Tournament.

This year, there were some long days and some nights (a 44-point loss to

Connecticut and a 63-point loss to Louisiana Tech, two of the best teams in

the nation) for the Red Storm that never seemed to end.

Some of that was made tougher, too, when Lynn suffered a sprained ankle during

practice. She missed three games and had to work hard, for several games, just

to get back into a more comfortable zone on the floor.

Still, as negative as the season might have ended up - with no accolades for

the Red Storm and no personal successes like she experienced in her final year

at Newtown High - Lynn will look back upon her four-year life in Jamaica, New

York, with a great deal of fondness.

"It's been a really great experience," she said, "going to St. John's, and I'm

really glad I accomplished it. Through all the good and the bad times, I'm

glad that I made it, that I finished and that I'll be coming out with a

degree. It was a great four years. I can't believe it's over."

And like back in high school, when the college scouts were after her and her

life seemed full of possibilities, Lynn Lattanzio - an environmental science

major - has a lot more unexplored possibilities ahead of her. When she

graduates this Spring she will pack up the ol' duffel bag and head out across

the open road, traveling cross country and no doubt whistlin' the tune,

"California here I come . . . "

"My doors are so open right now," Lynn said. "I have no specific plans for

what I want to do. I'm lucky right now. (Traveling cross country) was always

something I've dreamt of doing and, with the scholarship, I'm able to do it."

Even though Lynn has only been on one team that has played for a conference

championship, or a championship of any kind - in her freshman year in high

school back in 1988-89 - basketball has brought her a lot of fun, a lot of

success, a college education, and a lot of memories.