ATLANTA – Clarion University’s Susan Blauser, a Cranberry High School graduate, was presented the 2003 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Graduate Assistant of the Year award April 5 during the NCAA Division I Final Four in Atlanta.

"After reviewing her credentials, it was obvious Susan was the right choice for the award," WBCA chief executive officer Beth Bass said.

Blauser was pretty excited about receiving the award, which goes to one female graduate assistant in the country regardless of the division at which the assistant is coaching.

"I was glad that Coach Parsons (Clarion head coach "Gie" Parsons) thought enough of me to nominate me," Blauser said. "I don’t think I understood the full extent of the award until I got to Atlanta and was sitting there. It is a national award, a pretty serious award."

Blauser credits Parsons and assistant coach Scott Creighton for helping her win the award.

"I learned a lot of things at Clarion that I will be able to take with me," Blauser said. "I am glad they didn’t make me just a GA but instead made me 1/3 of the coaching staff. They let me help make decisions and treated me like a full-time coach. I think that gives me an advantage over other graduate assistants who weren’t allowed to do that Now I want to move on and put to use what I have learned.."

Blauser is the second Clarion graduate assistant to earn the WBCA award, which has been given since 1991, joining Shelly Respecki (1997).

"I think it will bring much deserved recognition for Susan," Clarion head coach Margaret "Gie" Parsons said. "It also reflects positively on our program. Susan is the latest in a line of very good graduate assistants at Clarion. Our GA’s have gone on to get very good jobs at the Division I and Division II levels."

Blauser joined Clarion’s coaching staff at the start of the 2001-2002 season and helped the Golden Eagles to a 12-15 overall mark, a 6-6 PSAC-West mark and the Golden Eagles first PSAC playoff berth in five years that season. This year, Blauser was part of Clarion’s coaching staff which helped the Golden Eagles to a 15-12 overall mark, the best record at the school since the 1994-95 campaign.

A star basketball player at Cranberry High School (1992-95) Blauser set school records for points (2,385), rebounds (1,124) and blocked shots (324) while helping lead Cranberry to three straight PIAA Class AA state titles (92-95) and the PIAA Final Four as a senior (‘95). Cranberry had a team record of 124-3 during that time. She was a second-team All-State choice as a senior and a fourth-team all-state selection as a junior.

In college, Blauser played her first two seasons at Rutgers under the legendary Vivian Stringer and was a member of the Big East All-Rookie team her freshman season. Following her sophomore year, she transferred to Illinois and earned first-team Big Ten honors in 1999 after averaging 17.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg. She also earned second-team Big Ten honors her senior season. In her career, she scored 1,604 points and had 824 rebounds while helping Illinois to two NCAA Playoff appearances.

Blauser graduated from Illinois in 2000 with a degree in Community Health and had a tryout with the WBNA’s Phoenix Mercury as well as an internship with CNN-Sports Illustrated in Atlanta. She is scheduled to earn her Master’s in Rehabilitative Sciences from Clarion in May.