Like on any other day, Tracy Harbut walked into her kitchen Wednesday morning, preparing to go to school. Just 24 hours earlier, former Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Marianna Freeman resigned. But Harbut, SU’s lone recruit, had yet to hear the news.

“I came downstairs and my mom asked me if I knew what happened,” said Harbut, a 5-foot-11 guard from Bryan Station High in Lexington, Ky. “That’s when she told me about Coach. She heard it on the news and in an e-mail from (assistant) Coach (Darren) Bennett. She asked me how I felt, and I said I didn’t know. I didn’t think she’d do that. It was just a shock to me.”

Because of Freeman’s resignation, Harbut’s playing status is in jeopardy. She must now prepare for a new coach and, unless a current assistant is hired, a new system.

“Usually, if a new coach comes in, they’ll clear house,” Harbut’s AAU coach Maurice Garrard said. “Now there’s no coaches who know Tracy as a recruit. That’s a very big concern of mine for Tracy.”

Harbut said she understands Freeman’s decision, saying that Freeman “needed to do what’s best for her.” Despite the coaching change, Harbut still plans to attend SU — Miami (Ohio) and Howard also recruited her — citing Syracuse’s academic environment and facilities as main reasons she chose the school. Harbut said Freeman was only a part of the reason she decided on SU.

Whoever replaces Freeman, Garrard admitted Harbut isn’t an athletic player and will have trouble starring on the college level.

“When a new coach is walking in and has never seen her play at this level, there’s got to be concerns,” Garrard said. “How can there not be? If I’m not that athletic, like Tracy, I may not fit into the plans of a new coach.

“How many kids do you see come in and they don’t fit the methodology of the new coach and have to transfer? You’d have to be a fool not to be worried.”

Harbut said she has no preferences for a new coach. But Garrard, for one, was adamant about who he’d like to see.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, and I’m talking about getting a big-time coach in (former Wisconsin coach) Jane Albright,” Garrard said. “Jane had already made an offer to another kid on our team. (Albright) was gonna go after Tracy, and Tracy would love playing for her.”

Harbut’s a heady scorer who can play guard or small forward. She averaged 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while leading Bryan Station to a 118-30 record in her first three years. Garrard describes her as “a gym rat who’ll run through a wall for you.”

Garrard and Bryan Station coach Jackie Williams have yet to talk to Harbut since Freeman left. In fact, Williams hadn’t even heard about Freeman’s resignation until he was notified by a reporter.

“That’s news to me,” Williams said. “I saw (Harbut) Wednesday, and she didn’t say anything to me about it.”

“I’m sure her and her parents are having questions and conversations about this,” Garrard said. “I’ll let them mill over it, so when I open conversation, they’ll know how they feel.”

Meanwhile, Harbut prepares to switch roles from an elder statesman — besides Harbut, Bryan Station started a sophomore and three freshmen — to the Orangewomen’s lone first-year player. And because of Freeman’s resignation, her role on the team becomes a question mark.

“I know Coach was a nice person,” Harbut said. “I was unfortunate enough not to play under her. I’m just anxious about playing under someone new.”

Published on March 24, 2003 at 12:00 pm