The Lamron: Were you heavily recruited coming out of high school?
Annie Verdino: My first year, I went to St. Anselm College and I got a full-ride there, it's Division II. I wasn't very happy there - I liked it there but I definitely wanted something a little more, and then everyone was saying, "Go see Geneseo," and the coach had been talking to me, and once I came here I knew I was going to fit in a lot better.
The Lamron: What would you say is the best aspect of your game?
AV: I guess for a post player I'm pretty versatile, I can shoot from the outside but I can post up also, so those are good things for me…I'm kind of like a 'tweener' - I'm not really the big post player but I'm obviously not a guard either, I'm kind of in between.
The Lamron: You have been able to come through for Geneseo late in games, like the Potsdam and Plattsburgh wins a few weeks ago that earned you ECAC player of the week. Do you consider yourself a clutch performer?
AV: I'd like to think so…I just feel like when it's getting close and we realize we're in a bind, something in me is just like, 'All right, let's go,' and I just want to pick up the team and get everyone going.
The Lamron: Ever tried to dunk?
AV: Haha, I can barely even touch the glass, twice I've done it.
The Lamron: What would you consider the best game you ever played?
AV: I feel like one of the best games I ever played was against New Paltz last year, but we didn't win, and they had some crazy amazing game and I think that just totally dampened it.
The Lamron: This weekend is the season finale against 20-4 Brockport. Are you more excited for this game than usual, especially since it's your own regular-season home finale?
AV: I definitely am more pumped for this one, especially since when we played them last time…we were winning, we were right there in that game, and one girl on their team had an amazing second half and she was what killed us. So I think we definitely have a chance to win, which gives us all the more reason to get pumped up for it.
The Lamron: Your team started out the season 2-10. You've gone 10-2 since then. How were you guys able to turn your season around?
AV: I think at the beginning of the year we could have been as good as we are now, but we were still coming together because we had a new coach [Scott Hemer], we had a couple new players coming in, and everyone needed to just get our confidence back up. And you know, when you get a new coach things change, and he has new philosophies - and we bought into them right away, but it just took time for us to all come together and make it work.
The Lamron: Are you excited for the SUNYAC playoffs?
AV: I'm so excited. I mean last year we thought we could do it but there was just that New Paltz game that we can't explain. But I think that this year we definitely can do it. We have the talent and when we do come together we play so well, and we're on a good run right now so I think there's definitely some high hopes.
The Lamron: What do you plan to do after graduation? Does basketball figure into your plans?
AV: I'm really hoping to get into grad school here, and we were talking about me possibly being a graduate assistant for the teams - I would love that, that would be amazing if I could still be involved in the program after I graduate.
(Editor's note: Verdino later said she also hopes to be accepted into Geneseo's graduate program in speech and language pathology.)