Despite College Setbacks, Former Bishop Kearney Hoops Star Enjoys Pro Career In Italy

By Jerry Del Priore

Bensonhurst native Maria Laterza loves to keep it simple when she returns home. The 6’3” basketball player enjoys relaxing on her stoop and going to L & B Spumoni Gardens for its famous pizza.

“I want L & B so bad,” Laterza said by phone from her apartment in Milan, Italy, where she’s in her third season with A2 Sesto San Giovanni GEAS. “That’s the crazy part. The pizza here is so good.”

At 25, Laterza has played professional basketball all over the world, starting with the Austrian team UBBC APOsport Herzogenburg in 2011, and is in the midst of her fourth European pro campaign, but her post-college hoops career almost didn’t happen.

After a stellar high school career at Bishop Kearney High School (Class of ’07), where she drained over 1000 career points, Laterza earned a full scholarship to Marist College. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to play much, averaging just nine minutes a game.

Laterza, who typically plays center, didn’t have much of a stat line, given the limited amount of hardwood action she saw. That’s because the Marist Red Foxes’ offense was predicated on perimeter play, and she didn’t shoot the three-pointer well as a freshman. So she was relegated to the bench, not able to showcase her inside game.

“For three years, they didn’t let me play inside,” Laterza said. “I definitely should’ve played more. I put in so much work to improve.”

Laterza thought about transferring to another school, but she chose Marist for its academics, rather than just basketball, so she stayed put.

Then, Laterza had a turning point in the summer before her junior year, while on vacation in Bari, Italy, where she was spotted playing pickup ball with a few locals.

Laterza’s old style of inside play sparked the interest of someone who had connections with Italian basketball.

“Someone approached me, and told me I could play in Italy right now,” she recalled. “I thought it was a joke.”

Later that summer, Laterza hit the West 4th Street asphalt courts in Greenwich Village, one of the most important amateur tournament sites in the city, known for its tough physical play. She played well there, regaining the confidence in her game that she was missing throughout college.

Though Laterza wouldn’t get the recognition she had hoped for during her senior year, she did have a 59-second highlight reel and game film in which she dominated former NBA center Hakeem Olajuwon’s daughter, Abi, who was member of the University of Oklahoma team, and an outstanding player.

The reel was enough to get Laterza recognized by Herzogenburg’s head coach Mike Kress, an American with whom she formed a special bond.

For eight months, with not much else for her to do in the hills of a foreign land, the pair dedicated a great amount of time to hoops. It paid tremendous dividends, helping Laterza reach another level.

“I had to show people I could play,” the former Lady Tiger said. “My coach was an American. The attention I got from him was great.”

From there, Laterza made her present team, and has been playing with the Italy national squad since 2012. Now she has a shot at playing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Ironically, Laterza’s professional career may never have materialized if she had transferred to another college.

“It was destined, to be honest,” she said. “I would have never had the hunger [to get better] if not for what had happened in college. I would have never had the chip on my shoulder. It motivated me to become the player I am now.”