In the state the Syracuse women’s basketball team is in right now, one more game won’t erase a dismal finish at the bottom of the Big East Conference.

But when the Orange visits No.16 DePaul for SU’s last game of the season tonight at 8 in Allstate Arena, it will hold much significance for shooting guard Jenny Eckhart. While this game ends an embarrassing season for the Orange (9-17, 2-13 Big East), it gives Eckhart the opportunity to visit family and friends.

The SU freshman remains Carmel High School’s all-time leader in scoring and assists. Her former teammates continue to follow her career while younger players in the feeder programs gravitate toward her. When Eckhart steps on the floor tonight, she will see between 70 to 100 recognizable faces in the stands.

‘The parents want to go, the kids want to go, it’s gone over real well,’ said John Ryan, Eckhart’s high school coach at Carmel. ‘It’ll be fun for the kids to see her, and it’ll be fun (for them) to see basketball at the next level.’

Eckhart’s alma mater is still selling tickets to people associated with the basketball program as well as Jenny’s close friends and relatives so they can hop on a bus to make the 40-mile trek to the North Side arena. Eckhart’s parents – Trish and Ed – and Ryan said ever since Jenny played for Syracuse, younger players on the varsity level at Carmel as well as on feeder programs have used Eckhart’s success as a benchmark to reach.

‘I don’t think it clicked in the beginning,’ Eckhart said. ‘It really makes me realize that I had an impact. It’s nice to have the support that people still want to follow you. They don’t just give up on you.’

The younger players have done so for good reason. During her high school days, Eckhart helped out with Ryan’s summer basketball camps he set up for the area’s youth. There she taught younger players basic drills such as ball handling, shooting and passing. In the offseason, Ryan held practices to sharpen conditioning and basketball skills. But outside of those practices, Eckhart grabbed her teammates and conducted their own practices voluntarily.

Her pregame preparation entailed shooting all afternoon at a local gym before an evening game. Even this year, Eckhart said she took 200 shots a day in 45 minutes the last two weeks. Ryan said Eckhart has natural talent, but much of her skill resulted from her routines before tip-off. With that in mind, the younger players saw that hard work leads to success.

‘It didn’t matter if it was in season or out of season,’ Ed Eckhart said. ‘It was rare for a day to go by in which she didn’t have a basketball in her hand.’

In the rare moment she wasn’t, she spent much time with her family. Similar to the relationships she built on the court, Eckhart has fostered similar relationships with her family at home. But even when schools nearby such as DePaul, Iowa, Indiana, Marquette and Illinois flooded Eckhart with mail, she gravitated toward Syracuse.

The idea of not being within driving distance worried Eckhart and her parents. But she loved the opportunity Syracuse brought. SU still hasn’t been a prestigious basketball school, but Eckhart saw a possibility of turning around a program. With that opportunity she knew she had a good chance to play right away. More importantly, Ed and Jenny Eckhart said when Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki recruited her she thought he was the most sincere.

‘To send Jenny this far I know was a challenge for them,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I was concerned to the very end. I thought the geography might be the ultimate factor in not having her come here. I’m happy she feels and they feel that there’s an environment here where Jenny’s going to grow and be the best player she can be.’

To make up for the distance, Ed Eckhart has incorporated his business travels for his business, Eckhart Helicopter Sales, with seeing Jenny’s games. To the games he couldn’t make, Trish Eckhart attended them instead. Up until the DePaul game, the Eckharts have seen 16 of their daughter’s 26 games all season.

‘That’s a big thing for me because I come from a tight family,’ Eckhart said. ‘To be around people that have family and understand the relationships you have was nice to see that in them.’

Published on February 27, 2006 at 12:00 pm