Kelly Guerriero was just waiting for the offer as she traveled to Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland for her official visit this weekend.
The Archbishop Molloy guard had already been to the school on an unofficial trip in August and felt its smaller size and comfortable coaching staff was the best fit for her over the next four years. Mount St. Mary’s had yet to offer her a scholarship, but she could sense it coming as she was being shown around the campus by head coach Bryan Whitten.
“The way he was talking I did have an idea he was going to offer me,” Guerriero said. “He just kept telling my parents, ‘When Kelly is a sophomore here.’ He kept implying as if I was already on the team.”
Now she will be. The senior verbally committed to the NEC school Saturday afternoon.
“From the second I went there on my unofficial, it really just felt right,” Guerriero said. “It’s small. It’s close, but not too close. The girls on the team were great. The coaches are great. It just felt right.”
The sharpshooter, who was also being recruited by Lehigh, Niagara and Maine, helped lead the Stanners to their first ever CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens title as a sophomore, ending Christ the King’s 23-year reign as champions. One of the most feared shooters in the city, she worked hard over the summer to enhance the rest of her game, trying to rebound from an inconsistent junior season. Her role will only increase this season. But it was her ability to stretch defenses and her shooter’s mentality that impressed Whitten the most, she said.
“He really won me over,” Guerriero said. “He kept telling me he loves how I shoot the ball. It’s exactly someone who I would want to play for.”
She said she wasn’t set on having a decision made before the season started, not wanting to rush into anything just to get it over with. Guerriero, however, is happy it’s behind her.
“You have no idea,” she said. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder. … It’s perfect because I do have the rest of the season, but it’s the right fit. It’s what I want.”
