With only five regular season games left, the 2012-13 N.C. State women’s basketball season is coming to a close, and with that comes the close of senior guard Marissa Kastanek’s collegiate career.
Since being recruited from Lincoln, Neb., in 2009, her time as part of the Wolfpack has placed herself as one of the most prolific student athletes in school history.
“I had dreams of playing in the ACC since I was little,” Kastanek said. “[Head coach Kellie Harper] made it seem like this is the place to be. I came out, and the rest is history.”
The 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference’s Scholar Athlete of the Year is currently tied with Sharon Manning for 10th in school history with 1,569 career points and is two three-point baskets away from tying Tammy Gibson, who currently sits in second with 230 career treys.
This season, Kastanek is averaging 13 points and four rebounds per game as well as shooting 80.5 percent at the free throw line in her career, the ACC’s 19th best of all time.
Despite these statistics and records, Kastanek believes her best accomplishments come from her interactions with those who support the team.
“One of the biggest impacts I am going to have here at State is my connection with the fans,” Kastanek said. “To be that liaison between the team and the fans is one of my greatest accomplishments.”
Her success and achievements are not limited to the basketball court.
Kastanek has earned a 4.0 grade point average and is currently ranked No. 1 out of 5,567 psychology majors in the senior class.
The NCAA Senior CLASS Award nominee is also a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa society. Her work ethic and determination to reach her goals is what drives her to her many successes.
Kastanek has shown her tenacity and dedication, even outside the continental United States. She competed on Team USA in the 2011 Pan American Games and was the team’s captain as the group finished seventh in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Kastanek averaged 5.8 points per game and tied for the team lead in threes with six baskets beyond the arc.
“To go down there to represent the nation put a whole different perspective on things,” Kastanek said. “Just to experience that has helped make me thirsty to make the Olympic team.”
These last five games, followed by ACC and potential NCAA or WNIT tournament games, will be the last in which Kastanek will don her Wolfpack jersey, but with this closing comes the opening of new opportunities in the WNBA or elsewhere.
With new challenges to face, State will be close at heart.
“This is where I have been for the past four years,” Kastanek said. “In everything I do, there is going to be something that ties back to State. The biggest thing is keeping what has shaped me in the past four years and knowing that this is who I am now.”
In her four years in Raleigh, Kastanek has built a legacy that very few women’s basketball players will ever eclipse moving forward.
Her resilience and toughness have helped her become an archetype of how any college athlete should perform, whether it is on the court or in the classroom. She has proved time and time again that no matter the circumstances, she can meet and overcome any obstacle.
Kastanek is the living embodiment of what it takes to be the leader of the Pack.
