Mount Saint Mary College Athletics

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Former women’s basketball standout Oneisha Staples will be inducted as an inaugural member of the Mount Saint Mary College Hall of Fame on April 13, 2013.

A native of Newburgh, N.Y. and a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy, Staples is the all-time leading scorer at the Mount with 1,672 career points and is the most decorated player in program history.  For her career, Staples averaged 15.1 points per game while also totaling nearly 5.0 rebounds per game and more than 4.2 assists per contest.  In addition to the all-time scoring record, Staples graduated as the all-time assist leader with 468, a record that has since been broken, and as the all-time leader in made free throws with 382.

A three-time Skyline Conference Player of the Year, Staples was also honored as the conference’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman.  She was named an ECAC Metro Region all-star in each of her final three seasons and was named the Metro Region Player of the Year as a senior.  Staples also garnered regional recognition from D3hoops.com, taking home first team all-region honors as a junior and second team all-region honors as a sophomore and senior.  On the national level, she earned All-American honorable mention from D-III news at the close of her junior season while also being named a preseason All-American at the start of both her junior and senior years.

The Knights went 95-17 during Staples’ four years on campus, including an unblemished record of 44-0 against opponents inside the Skyline Conference.  Each of her four seasons resulted in a Skyline Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III national tournament.  The team received national recognition in 2002-03, earning the program’s first-ever D3hoops.com poll ranking.  The Knights were ranked as high as #24 in 2002-03 and then as high as #23 in 2003-04.

Staples graduated from the Mount in 2005 with a degree in human services.  She is currently working as an assistant teacher and physical education teacher at the West Point Child Development Center in West Point, N.Y.  Staples is set to earn a master’s degree in public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in May of 2013.  She currently resides in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Favorite moment at the Mount: “After we won the Skyline title during my freshman year, the team was waiting to hear where and against whom we would be playing in the NCAA Tournament.  When our named flashed on the screen, we realized that we would be hosting the first round of the tournament.  The team was so excited to be playing on our home floor and even though we fell short of a victory, the gym was filled to capacity with standing room only. It was a proud moment to know that so many people had taken an interest in our hard work and dedication on the court.

How did your time at the Mount prepare you for your current career: “Playing basketball at the Mount made me into the leader and  role model I am today for so many young children. Having smaller classes and being familiar with the teachers helped me to have confidence when getting up to speak in front of other teachers as well as the children that I deal with on a daily basis.”