BELLAIRE – Marissa Rose had dreamed about playing college basketball for basically her entire life.

The St. John Central senior is going to get her chance.

Rose inked a National Letter of Intent to Point Park University, which is located in downtown Pittsburgh, during a ceremony late last week at the high school.

“I liked everything about Point Park,” Rose said. “(The college decision) has been a big worry, so to have it finalized and decided is really nice. I am very happy and excited.”

Along with the basketball program, Rose was attracted to the idea of living in a big city, which played a large role in her decision.

“I always knew I wanted to go to college in a city,” Rose said. “Salem and Alderson-Broaddus had contacted me and I was happy and honored to receive their offers, but once I heard Pittsburgh, I was really excited.”

Rose turned in a brilliant senior campaign for the Irish, averaging 19.9 points for a Lady Irish squad, which finished 20-4 and advanced to the sectional championship game and claimed the school’s 15th OVAC championship.

“Marissa’s stats speak for themselves, but she has meant much more to the program than just numbers,” St. John head coach Bubba Kapral said. “Her commitment and toughness helped to elevate the program to a championship level. She will go down as one of the greatest players in Lady Irish annals.”

The 5-7 guard, who expected to play either the two or the three in Point Park’s offense, earned third-team all-Ohio this season. She was first-team all-Eastern District, all-District 12, all-OVAC, all-Times Leader and all-Valley. She played in both the District 12 and OVAC All-Star Games, too.

During the course of the season, Rose accomplished one of the goals she set for herself when she enrolled at St. John Central. She surpassed her mom, Jenny (Shidell), on the school’s all-time scoring list.

“I really wanted to beat my mom’s point total,” Rose smiled. “I told people I am coming to St. John and wanted to beat her total. I always told Coach Bubba (Kapral) that if I don’t beat my mom’s total, I don’t want to be on the (record) board because it would be embarassing.”

Rose doesn’t have to worry about any such embarassment. She finished her brilliant prep career with 1,641 points, which ranks third in the school’s illustrious history. She trails only Stephanie Petho and Kayla Magistro.

With Rose helping to lead the way, the Lady Irish achieved another of Rose’s pre-established goals this season when they captured the OVAC Class 1A title by defeating Bishop Donahue in the title game in February.

“My teammates at St. John’s have been amazing,” Rose said. “We’ve all grown up together. We had some rough times, but we finally got the OVAC championship as seniors. We’ve been through everything together, too.”

Rose, who started all 91 games of her prep career, pointed out two areas of her game where she’ll need to improve to be able to make an early impact for a Point Park squad, which finished 19-11 and featured only three seniors this past season.

“I need to get better defensively and I have to improve my left hand,” Rose said. “There is always a need to improve in all aspects, but defense is the biggest one. In high school, it’s kind of different because you put a scorer on the other team’s worst player, so she doesn’t foul out, but it won’t be like that in college.”

Along with basketball, Rose has also lettered in volleyball and track throughout her prep career. Away from athletics, Rose is a consistent member of the SJC honor roll, a member of the science club, history club and serves as a senior class representative.

Marissa, who is the daughter of Mike and Jenny Rose, plans to major in communucation and business. She hopes to one day be a sports broadcaster.