Kaitlyn Astel’s mind was clear after seven days on a cruise to Florida and the Bahamas. The McKee/Staten Island Tech star guard got off the boat and one of the first things she did was make a call.
On Saturday, one of the top uncommitted players in New York City decided where she’d be spending the next four years. As first reported by The Post, Astel chose Manhattan College, where she will accept both athletic and academic money, over New Haven and Philadelphia University.
“I just liked everything about Manhattan,” Astel said.
At Manhattan, she gets the best of both worlds. Astel, who has a 105 average at high-end academic school Staten Island Tech, will take part in the college’s prestigious engineering program. She’ll also get the chance to play Division I basketball, which wasn’t the be all or end all, but was a goal.
“All my hard work, I felt like I was deserving of it,” Astel said of getting to play at the highest level. “I’m excited.”
MSIT coach Peter LaMarca has been saying the same thing for the last two years. Astel said when she called him to tell him the news, he let out a yell of joy. In 14 years of coaching high school basketball, LaMarca never had a Division I player until now.
“[Manhattan] really got a special player that does things kids in the city don’t do,” LaMarca said. “She might be one of the best players in the city without the ball. … There are better athletes in the city, but when you talk about knowing the game she might be the best at that. That’s just a gift.”
And the system coach John Olenowski runs with the Jaspers, emphasizing some of Astel’s best skills, will benefit her. Manhattan went 18-16 last year, including a 10-8 record in the MAAC.
If not for MSIT’s incredible postseason run, the school might have never seen her. Astel helped lead the Seagulls to the PSAL Class AA city championship game. They were just the second team from Staten Island to ever reach Madison Square Garden.
Weeks earlier, Astel e-mailed Olenowski because she was interested in Manhattan’s engineering program. He wrote her back assuming MSIT’s season was done. She told him she’d be playing at the Garden in the PSAL final and he sent associate head coach Sonia Burke to watch her.
“She was one of those girls in the city under everyone’s radar,” LaMarca said. “Thank god we had this run, because everyone saw her. This girl can play. She’s very deserving of everything she’s going to get.”
Burke must have liked what she saw because within a week, Astel was on Manhattan’s Riverdale campus with a Division I offer in hand.
The long, 5-foot-10 guard has the city’s best mid-range shooting game with deadly turnaround and pullup jumpers. Astel’s turnaround fadeaway in the lane sealed MSIT’s semifinal victory over South Shore. She had 29 points in the quarterfinals against John F. Kennedy, 14 in the semis and 13 more in the championship game against Murry Bergtraum.
“She’s a very hard worker and smart basketball player with an unorthodox game that is very difficult to defend,” one Division I assistant coach said.
Astel is also a solid rebounder and passer – she did everything a times in her career for MSIT, where she became the all-time leading scorer this season (1,759). Now she’ll leave the school after starting for four years with a Division I scholarship.
“It was very relieving after waiting such a long time,” Astel said. “I felt confident that I was making the right choice.”
