Wednesday, July 21, 2004/Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Ready to join Greyhounds
Assumption rebounds a major HC miss

By Jennifer Toland
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- Assumption College women’s basketball coach Kerry Phayre sure got a nice surprise this summer when she landed former Worcester Academy standout Charde Floyd.

Phayre knew all about Floyd when the latter was starring for the Hilltoppers, “but the buzz was that she was going to Holy Cross,” Phayre said, “so we kind of backed off.”

When things didn’t work out at HC for Floyd, a 2003 Worcester Academy graduate who attended Quinsigamond Community College last year, Assumption seemed like a viable option. Now, both Floyd and the Greyhounds have something to look forward to this winter.
“We’re very excited,” Phayre said. “We feel she can help our program.”

Now, it’s true that Floyd had her heart set on going to Holy Cross and playing for coach Bill Gibbons. Floyd’s dad, Ernie, starred for the Crusaders in the early 1980s, and Charde practically grew up in the Hart Center, accompanying Ernie, who works as a color analyst for Charter Cable Channel 3, to games.

Charde attended Gibbons’ annual summer camp and stayed in close contact with him through the years. And as Charde made her way through Worcester Academy as a three-time New England Prep School Athletic Conference All-Star, Gibbons recruited her heavily.
“Holy Cross was where I wanted to go,” Charde said during an interview at Pride Productions Inc., where her dad is the director. “The coaching staff there I’ve always known and loved. I knew what Holy Cross was all about and their interest in me, and what they said to me was from the heart, and that’s why I wanted to go there.”

Charde applied and was denied admission to HC. Her grades, which had been good her freshman and sophomore years at Worcester Academy, dropped off her junior year as she went through a very trying time for the Floyds. Three members of their family died in a six-month span, and the trauma obviously affected Charde’s schoolwork.

She still had her sights set on HC. After graduating from WA last year, she planned to prep for a year at Suffield Academy, then reapply to Holy Cross. At the last minute, her financial aid package at Suffield fell through, however, and her options began to diminish as the new school year quickly approached.

“We wanted to get the education process going,” Ernie said.

Charde enrolled full-time at Quinsigamond, and HC’s admissions department advised her about what classes to take, she said. She knew it was up to her to follow through academically. There was no guarantee she’d get into Holy Cross the second time around. Charde and Ernie were both aware of that.

What the Floyds weren’t aware of, and weren’t made aware of, was the fact that Charde would have to attend Quinsigamond for two years and graduate from the school in order to transfer to, and play immediately at, Holy Cross or any other Division 1 college. She was also recruited by Siena and Monmouth, and was considering those schools in case things didn’t work out at HC.

According to the NCAA’s 2003-04 Transfer Guide, in order for a student athlete to receive a scholarship, practice and compete at a Division 1 school immediately after transferring, he or she must meet four requirements before transferring from a two-year college — the first being graduation from the two-year college.

The rules are different for transferring to Division 2 schools. Charde and Ernie didn’t become aware of the Division 1 rule until Charde was midway through her second semester at Quinsig. She had planned to go to Quinsigamond for just one year.

“I think there was a process, and in that process there were steps and different phases,” Ernie said, “and in one of those steps or phases (the rule) wasn’t mentioned. A red flag wasn’t raised. I wasn’t aware of it. She wasn’t aware of it, of course. It just wasn’t discussed.

“It was unfortunate it took a semester and a half before it was brought to ur attention. We assumed this is the process and this is what it involves and this is where we’re going, but I guess we didn’t read the fine print. It happened. The main thing is, she’s going to school and continuing the process. As the old adage goes, it must have happened for a reason.”

Charde was disappointed as well, but eager to move forward.

“We went back to Holy Cross and they said my option was to go back to Quinsig for another year and then I’d be able to transfer,” she said. “But I didn’t want to do another year and wait. I wanted to get right into playing basketball, right into being on a team, right into the whole atmosphere again.”

Charde didn’t play basketball last year at Quinsigamond and didn’t want to go another full year without playing. Ernie said Charde was also given the option of reapplying to Holy Cross after the one year at Quinsigamond, but if she got in — and, again, there was no guarantee she would — she wouldn’t have been able to play basketball for the Crusaders this season.

“We really wanted to make it happen,” Gibbons said. “It just didn’t work out. I’m disappointed it didn’t work out. I’m satisfied we did everything from both ends to make it work. It just didn’t happen.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for her at Assumption. It’s a great fit, and I’m sure she will have a great career there and get a great education.”
Sherry Levin, another former HC star and Charde’s coach at Worcester Academy, talked to Phayre, and Charde and Ernie were very impressed during their visit to the Salisbury Street campus.

“The team was real welcoming and the coaches are great,” said Charde, who will be the first black scholarship player in the 31-year history of the AC women’s program.

The 5-foot-11 Floyd, Worcester Academy’s second-leading career scorer with 1,141 points, played center at WA, but expects to move to the No. 3 or 4 spot in college.

The Greyhounds, coming off a 21-9 season, graduated 5-foot-11 Katelyn Dwyer and 6-foot-1 Michelle Towne, the team’s two top scorers and rebounders, so Phayre is looking forward to Floyd’s inside presence.

“With her athleticism, talent, scoring, rebounding, she brings so much of what we need,” Phayre said. Assumption’s other incoming recruits are 5-8 guard Brittany Bishop of Mendon, 6-1 forward Sara Czarnecki and 6-3 Maine Player-of-the-Year Megan Urban.

At Assumption, Floyd will play in the ultra-competitive Northeast-10 Conference. The league produced six 20-win teams last year, including Merrimack, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

“I think she’ll do really well and I spoke with her about it,” Ernie said. “She’s getting a good opportunity academically and athletically. Division 1, 2, 3 — it doesn’t matter. Assumption is going to be a challenge. It comes down to the academics. I hope she will maximize the opportunity and I think she will.”

Floyd is interested in pursuing a career in criminal justice or physical therapy.

This summer, she is preparing for her first year at Assumption by taking classes, working in the Telegram & Gazette’s advertising department, working out, and playing in a hoops league in Springfield.

Ernie, a 1,000-point scorer at HC and the most accurate shooter in program history, did hope his daughter would follow in his footsteps at his alma mater. Ever the pragmatist, however, he has moved beyond that.

“Anything you propose or anything you shoot for you always has to have plan B, C or D,” Ernie said. “We tried plan A, but there was no guarantee. There was a process and in that process there had to come a point where we had to make a decision and it came down to her future. As a parent and an advocate for young people, you want to get them in the direction they need to go in. It’s been a long year waiting and seeing. When your future is on hold, you get anxious. You want to get going with your life.”

And that’s what Charde is doing.