Wallace Hopes to make Impact during Freshman Campaign
12/4/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2006
By, Mariel Brady
Most of the players on the Maryland women's basketball team would not call a regular season game against Wake Forest a game they are most looking forward to. A game against the unranked Demon Deacons would feel just like any other regular season game against an ACC opponent.
But most players aren't the first family member in her generation to choose to attend a school besides Wake Forest, like freshman forward Emery Wallace. In order to attend Maryland, Wallace had to shun the school which her mother and every one of her mother's sisters and brothers call their alma mater.
"My sister just got into Wake Forest, so I'm still the only grandchild that didn't go to Wake," Wallace said. "There's not extra pressure, but I just want to show everyone that we're much better than Wake Forest."
It would have been easy for Emery Wallace to go to Wake Forest, but after visiting Maryland last year, she knew the school would be the best fit for her.
"I came to Maryland because I loved the players and the coaches," she said. "The chemistry of the players was definitely a big part of why I cam here. I just loved Coach Frese and the rest of the coaching staff."
Obviously, Wallace would love to make an impact as the lone freshman on the defending national championship team, but she has been slowed by a knee injury and has not yet stepped on the court for the Terps.
She suffered an ACL injury prior to her senior year in high school and re-injured the knee during the preseason.
"I should be ready in January," Wallace said. "I'm doing rehab everyday, but I won't be able to run for another month."
But in the meantime, Wallace is making sure she establishes a good relationship with her teammates, in order to ensure that she only enhances the Terps' already famous chemistry.
"Everyone still works really hard, so we can come back and get another championship," the freshman said. "The team is a lot of fun, everyday we laugh at practice. Laura Harper is just crazy and funny and Jade Perry is the funniest girl on the team. It has been awesome to be a freshman and come on to this national championship team."
So, if all goes as Wallace plans, she will be on the Comcast Center court on January 21st, making an impact on the Terps' victory against Wake Forest.
And for once, the Wallace family will be okay with a Wake Forest loss.
