DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Sophomore
Melissa Maurin’s self-motivated training and
practice earned her a place on the UCLA women’s basketball team as
a walk-on this year.
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Reporter
The hardest worker on the UCLA women’s basketball squad is
also the most anonymous of its members.
Though she puts in a lot of time, sophomore walk-on Melissa
Maurin doesn’t expect any of the attention that the rest of
her teammates receive ““ she’s happy just to be on the
team.
In a way, it was a streak of fate that landed the 5-foot-7
Chino, Calif., native in a walk-on role with the Bruins in the
first place. In another way, it was just old-fashioned hard work
that finally paid off for the overachieving Maurin.
It wasn’t until two of the team’s projected
starters, guards Nicole Kaczmarski and Lacrecia Flannigan, departed
from the roster at the beginning of the season that a spot in the
roster was opened up for Maurin. Kaczmarski has since transferred
to Georgia for personal reasons, and Flannigan has been
academically ineligible for the season.
To describe Maurin’s big break as the circumstance of pure
luck, however, would be far from the truth. In fact, without
Maurin’s incredible persistence and dedication, UCLA would
probably have boasted a heavily short-handed
11-man roster for the duration of the season.
“She comes in before anybody gets here,” said junior
guard Michelle Greco. “She sets up our practice. She brings
out the balls, she brings out towels, and she’s the first
person working on her shooting. I’ve never seen anyone with
the kind of work ethic that she has.”
Maurin’s work ethic is something she derives from her
family’s athletic ties, as well as her high school roots at
Don Lugo High School, where she competed in basketball, volleyball,
softball, track and cross-country.
After a successful high school career, Maurin came to UCLA with
a chance to walk-on for the women’s soccer team.
“Trying out for the soccer team was one of the reasons I
got into UCLA in the first place,” Maurin said. “I
didn’t make the team, however, because I was kind of burnt
out on the whole soccer thing and I just didn’t give it as
much of an effort as I did basketball.
“I enjoy basketball more, and I think it was just meant to
end up that way,” she added.
Deprived of the competition and team camaraderie that she had
since she was a kid, it didn’t take long for Maurin to grow
inpatient not being on a team at UCLA.
In January, Maurin made a pact with herself to get into good
enough shape to play for the Bruin hoops squad.
Long hours at Wooden playing pick up games and working out gave
Maurin a notorious reputation for being a gym rat. When summer came
around, rather than taking a break, Maurin stepped up her training
even more.
“Over the summer, I trained with one of my best friends in
Chino,” said Maurin, whose good friend is former teammate
Diana Taurasi, now a freshman starter for the No. 2 UConn
Huskies.
Maurin described her summer routine of waking up every morning
at 8, running for two hours, taking a break to eat, going back to
the gym and playing pick-up games all day. After that, she’d
go home, eat again, lift weights for about an hour, and then play
until about one in the morning.
“It was hard work,” Maurin said. “But we had a
blast the whole time we were doing it.”
All those hours paid off when Maurin finally suited up for the
Bruins in the fall.
“For someone to walk on to our team, they need to meet a
number of requirements,” Head Coach Kathy Olivier said.
“They need to work hard, they need a good attitude, they need
to be in a position where their class schedule can meet our
practice times, and she just had all those things in place, so she
just fit perfectly with the group.”
Though Maurin has seen little action on the court this season
(she has yet to score the first point of her collegiate career),
she finds more value in the team companionship she has gained since
joining the squad.
“The girls on the team treat me so well,” Maurin
said. “You come in and you expect to be the walk-on scrub
with no one even paying attention to you.
“With this group, I’ve made a lot of friends, and
they never exclude me from anything,” she continued. “I
love it because I’m a part of a team now, and for me
that’s the best feeling in the world.”
Not only does she have to work harder than anyone else to keep
her head above water, but Maurin also plays the most selfless role
on the team.
“She’s always rebounding for everybody before the
game,” Greco said. “One time I told her that I felt bad
because she was always rebounding for me, and she said she
didn’t mind because she wanted me to play well. It’s
little things like this that make Melissa stand out as a team
player.”
With two games left on the UCLA schedule this season, Maurin may
have a chance to improve on the five game appearances she has made
this season. If not, the sophomore guard will likely be content
with just staying on the team. Next year’s situation is still
uncertain since no one is graduating and some new recruits will be
coming in.
“Hopefully she can continue with the program and coach can
keep her on for next year,” Greco said. “I’d
definitely give Melissa my vote.”