When Syracuse guard Mary Joe Riley first stepped on a basketball court at SU in the summer, something didn’t feel right. She already started her training weeks after her teammates had, and another setback was the last thing on her mind.

The freshman continued to practice hard, going to the gym before the rest of the Syracuse women’s basketball team and leaving long after most of the players finished their workouts. But the nagging pain in her left knee wasn’t going away.

She’d torn her anterior cruciate ligament in high school and Riley was sure this injury was nothing to be seriously worried about. She was wrong.

Riley had surgery on her knee just two months before the season began. While the Orange took the court for the first three games of the season, Riley sat at the end of the bench with her knee tightly wrapped, crutches in hand.

But when the Orange takes the court this weekend in Hartford, Conn., for the first round of the Big East tournament against Georgetown, Riley will be on the court with the rest of the starting lineup. In likely the final weekend in Syracuse’s season, Riley’s shift from the player on end of the bench to part of the future of the Orange program will be on display.

‘It was kinda hard because in high school I was used to playing,’ Riley said. ‘I just kept cheering the team on while I worked harder to be out there with them. I knew I had a lot of hard work ahead of me, but the harder you work, the quicker it comes.’

As soon as she was off the crutches, Riley went straight back to the gym. Even after Syracuse (12-15, 4-12 Big East) head coach Keith Cieplicki blew his whistle to end practice, Riley stayed on the court at Manley Field House. Jumper after jumper swished through the net. She’d stay there taking 3-pointers for hours.

Everywhere Riley went, so did a basketball. Not a minute passed by without thinking of basketball. The game was on her mind, and only a starting spot would even slightly ease the pain of missing precious playing time.

‘She was really sad at the beginning of the year because she couldn’t play,’ Syracuse center Vaida Sipaviciute said. ‘But she’s very hard working and she’s very into the game.’

But even as January rolled around, Riley’s hard work hadn’t translated into playing time. Through Syracuse’s first 14 games, she never played more than six minutes in a game.

The lack of playing time only caused Riley, a four-year starter at Robichaud High School in Dearborn Heights, Mich., to log more time at the gym. She worked on every aspect of her game, from guarding the stronger and faster college players to driving hard toward the basket when she had the ball.

Then on Jan. 29, everything changed. With less than five minutes left and Syracuse down, 42-39, against Villanova, Riley found the ball in her hands.

She did exactly what she did in all those extra sessions after practice. After a crossover dribble, Riley took the ball hard to the paint, dodged under the basket and put in a reverse lay-up. The shot rejuvenated the Orange and jumpstarted Riley’s career.

SU beat the Wildcats, 45-42, and since, Riley has started every game, excluding the Orange’s final two games.

‘Midway through the season she got her opportunity to play and she did a great job,’ Syracuse senior Chineze Nwagbo said. ‘It’s absolutely wonderful she bounced back from all those setbacks.’

And the Orange believes those setbacks will only make Riley stronger in the future. She’s shown determination by working her way back from two knee injuries. She’s shown dedication no other Syracuse player can beat.

Although she’s only scoring four points per game this year, Riley always seems to find herself in the game when it counts the most. And Syracuse has come to expect nothing less than gritty play from her, especially Saturday against the Hoyas (12-15, 7-9).

‘She is a gifted player and she’s learning how to play at this level,’ Cieplicki said. ‘She can do a lot of things that you can’t teach. I’m real happy with her and she’s going to be an important piece of our future. The great thing about her is she loves playing. She’s not getting better for me; she’s getting better for herself. Players like that tend to find a way to win.’

Published on March 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm