Stacey Marron – University of Connecticut

Midway through her junior year in high school and dissatisfied with her possible basketball scholarship offers, Stacey Marron remembers thinking, “I might as well try something totally different.” So the Albuquerque, New Mexico native applied to the University of Connecticut with the hopes of making the Huskies as a walk-on. While her mother fully backed the decision, Marron recalls her first reaction when she pointed to UConn on the map. “Storrs?” her mother laughed, “Where is that? It’s not even a dot!” Now in her third year as a Husky, with a perfect season and two NCAA championship rings to her name, Marron’s risk looks like a piece of brilliant planning. The cherry on top came when, last season, head coach Geno Auriemma informed the 5’9″ guard she’d been granted a full basketball scholarship – the first UConn basketball walk-on to receive one.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way it worked out,” Marron, 21, said. “I came in as a freshman not even knowing if I’d be on the team and be able to play with these kids. Now, it’s not like I’m the greatest,” she said with a smile, “but I can battle with them.”

Some might question how a player who would start at other Division I schools could settle for averaging 4 minutes a game, but Marron does not. “It really isn’t a problem for me. I’ve never been the one who needs to be a star. I just love coming to work with these amazing players every day and working with the coaching staff. It’s just such a strong environment,” she adds, “where people are willing to just step out there and give everything.”

An exercise physiology major with an eye towards becoming a personal trainer or a strength coach for a college team, Marron’s determinedly focused on the “now.” “I want to be here with the team, just thinking about what we’re trying to do and not about what everyone else is doing. We can become a better team by the time March and April roll around – that’s where the wins and losses really count.”