August 20, 2011

Bayonne's Lisa Rovatsos (left) and Tara Flynn (right) recently made their college picks. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

BAYONNE – Tara Flynn and Lisa Rovatsos know they could have gone to bigger, Division I schools.

Instead, academics,  the ability to stay closer to home and in less-pressurized environments  proved to be the greatest factors for the Bayonne standouts. Both made verbal commitments to continue their playing careers at the Division II level, Flynn at Adelphi and Rovatsos at Caldwell.

"That's just a maturity for them to focus on the academics as well as the athletics," Bayonne head coach James Turner said. "It would have been easy for Lisa or Tara to play Division I, but instead they are going to Division II schools which are more individualized in the classroom and a more intimate setting on the athletic teams because it's a smaller school and a smaller team. These are two great girls and they just wanted to enjoy college and play basketball. They girls wanted to go where they can play, be competitive and still get their degrees. I think they made a wise decision."

Both players had received interest from bigger schools; Flynn from Siena, Albany, Monmouth, Centenary,   and Rovatsos from Iona, Centenary, Florida Atlantic, Florida Southern, Barry University and multiple other schools for soccer. But both were content and relieved to have the process over well before the start of their senior seasons.

"It's such a relief," Flynn said. "Now I don't have to worry about calls or trying to impress coaches. I can just concentrate on my senior year."

Flynn cited the ability to play right away along with Adelphi's coaching staff as reasons for her choice.

"I just loved the coaching staff," Flynn said. "Any time I told them I'd be playing at a game somewhere, they would be there."

There were other factors involved with Rovatsos' decision. She had offers from colleges for both basketball and soccer. At Caldwell, she will have the unique opportunity to be a two-sport athlete in college.

"At first I didn't think so," said Rovatsos about the idea of playing both sports in school. "But I talked with both coaches (at Caldwell) and they worked out a schedule where I can play both. There was some concern, but they say athletes perform better (academically) in season."

Other factors Rovatsos cited was the ability to major in Special Education at Caldwell as well as its close proximity to home.

Rovatsos averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds a game and Flynn averaged 10 points and five assists per game to help lead the Bees to a third-straight Hudson County championship and a trip to the NJSIAA North 2, Group IV title game a season ago.

(From left) Lisa Rovatsos, Bayonne head coach James Turner and Tara Flynn. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)