Meet the Freshmen

GAMEDAY FEATURE STORY

by Cathy Bongiovi, Athletic Communications

Temple women's basketball welcomes three freshmen to campus this fall—guard Feyonda Fitzgerald, center Safiya Martin, and center Taylor Robinson.

The trio, which shares a dorm suite on campus together with sophomore Erica Covile, has traveled great lengths to arrive on North Broad Street.

Fitzgerald hails from Virginia, Martin calls Georgia home, and Robinson comes from Missouri.

While their paths to Temple may have been different, they all share a common goal: to contribute to the team.

"When I came on my official visit, Temple treated me like I was a part of the family already," Fitzgerald shared.

The 5-7 point guard out of Lake Taylor HS in Norfolk is no stranger to success. She helped her high school team to two Virginia state titles and set the individual tournament scoring record with 96 points in three games. The 2013 VHSCA AAA Girls Hoops State Player of the Year is expected to start for the Owls.

"Feyonda has been thrown into the fire, being the starting point guard," head coach Tonya Cardoza said. "It's tough for any freshman to be a point guard, but she has (junior) Tyonna (Williams) here to help her out."

Fitzgerald also played AAU basketball for Boo Williams. She plans to study sport & recreation management.

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"I started playing in the seventh grade, but I did it for fun, Martin shared. "I started taking it seriously the summer of my 10^th-grade year and played AAU. That's when I got serious and said I could be good at it and I really wanted to work hard at it."

A 6-4 center from Fayetteville, Martin led Sandy Creek HS to the state tournament two straight years. The Class AAAA Honorable Mention All-State selection shares the tallest player honor with Robinson. The duo is expected to help the Owls in the paint.

"Safiya, to her credit, hasn't been playing basketball very long," Cardoza said. "She's been thrown into the fire. But she's someone that's going to come along. She works really hard. She wants to get better. She gets down on herself when she doesn't do something that she knows she's capable of doing. Safiya is going to be a really good player for us down the road. She's going to have to play minutes for us."

Martin played AAU basketball for the Georgia Pearls. She is studying biology with the hopes of moving towards pre-med.

* * *

"Temple seemed like the perfect place for me," Robinson said. "I loved the coaches. Different city. I wanted to try something new. I love it."

A 6-4 center from St. Louis, Robinson was nominated to play in the 2013 McDonald's All-American Game. As a junior at Ladue Horton Watkins HS, she averaged 20 points and nine rebounds per game and led the team to a conference championship.

"Taylor has to put more pressure on herself in practice, because Taylor is a talent," Cardoza said. "She can score; she takes up a lot of space. But right now, she's not working as hard as she could in practice. If she did, she'd be playing a lot more. We need them both (Robinson) in order for us to have a good year. Every day in practice we just need for them to try to get better."

Robinson also played AAU basketball for Kim Jackson's Midwest Elite. She is a double major in psychology and sports management.

* * *

Fitzgerald and Martin had the summer to adjust to college life, while Robinson started classes in August. All three said time management has been the biggest difference.

"It's so different than high school," Martin said. "You have more time for a social life. In college, you have to cut that out and focus on your priorities."

"(There's) not as much leisure time as I'm used to," Robinson said. "But I've adjusted."

"I actually like that there is more freedom, but basketball is really different from high school," Fitzgerald added. "It's more intense. It's very different."

Another difference for the Owls this season is their playing schedule. Temple is now a member of the American Athletic Conference, a league that sports some of the nation's top women's basketball teams, including defending national champion Connecticut and national runner-up Louisville.

"That was also what drew me in," Robinson said. "Last year they didn't play top-notch teams, but now we're really playing the best of the best."

Fitzgerald, who would like to work towards earning the conference's inaugural Rookie of the Year accolade, feels the new league will help her post-graduate plans.

"I want to go to the WNBA and this is a better way for me to be seen, because there are better teams and more TV exposure," she explained.

"If we had stayed in the A-10, I was coming regardless," Martin said. "I didn't know about the conference change until after I had committed. I just love Temple in general."

The trio is focused learning as much as they can and contributing to Temple's success.

"As long as we're all on the same page and we all want to win, we all know what it takes to win," Fitzgerald said. "As long as everyone works hard and does her part, we should come out on top."

"My goal is to become more aggressive, Martin said. "I want to make my presence known on the court. More physical. Not timid. Not a sweet person but more like a beast."

"I want to play some good minutes this year and make a difference for the team," Robinson added. "I need to make sure that when I'm on the floor that I give 100 percent."

The roommates confess that too much of a good thing has its moments.

"We can bump heads at times, because we're always together, but overall, it's cool," Fitzgerald said.

"We have the normal roommate fights, but we get along pretty well." Robinson added.

Perhaps Martin said it best.

"It honestly feels like I've known them my whole entire life. We get along. We mesh very well. We take care of each other. We're very close."

That kind of closeness and friendship goes a long way on and off the court.

Temple University Athletics

Meet the Freshmen

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