Glenelg's lefty point guard Emily Russo has made a verbal commitment to attend UMBC and play in the America East conference. Russo is entering her senior season at Glenelg and she chose UMBC over Monmouth, College of Charleston and Loyola. She told 695Hoops that it was the hardest decision she ever had to make and she went with UMBC for academic reasons. She will join her Maryland Grizzlies teammate Sara Tarbert who recently committed there as well. You can read her earlier interview below.

695: How old were you when you started playing ball? 

Em:  I was about 7 years old when I started playing basketball.

695: Where did you grow up?

Em:  I was born in California and lived there for 3 years before I
moved here to Howard County in Woodbine.

695:  The other sports I play are field hockey in the fall and lacrosse in
the spring.

Em:  When I started AAU ball, I played for the Maryland Waves. Then the
following year my coach and team started a new organization in 2007,
the Maryland Grizzlies, who I've been playing for ever since.

695: What do you want to add to your game?  

 Em:  I would like to add to my game a good right hand. Since I'm
left-handed, I favor my left hand; if I got my right hand dribbling
down, it would really improve my game.

695: Who is your favorite player?  

Em:  My favorite player would probably be Marissa Coleman, who was
drafted to the WNBA a couple years ago. I've watched her play at
Maryland throughout her college career and I think she is a great role
model to kids my age trying to pursue what she has accomplished in
college and professional basketball.

695: What do you have on your Ipod? 

Em:  I have a variety of artists on my Ipod, but my favorite artists are
Taylor Swift (country artist), Kenney Chesney (country) and Kesha
(pop). Their music is great to hear, and I love listening to it.

695: Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?  

 Em:  For pregame rituals, I do have to admit I am a little supersticious.
I have to tie my shoes triple knotted, and have the same teammate braid
my hair each game. Also, when we shoot foul shots during warm ups, the
team has an order that we shoot in that started at the start of the season that we keep out of
superstition,

695: What do you plan to study in college?

Em:  In college, I think it would be neat to study a field relating to
math or science; those are my strong subjects in school.
Maybe something having to do with statistics or even research to help cure cancer.
I've been thinking of that lately; I want to do something to make an impact in our world.

695: Tell me about a funny AAU road trip story... 

 
Em:  Hmm, I don't know where to start with AAU trips, there's so many
great stories that come to my mind. I remember two summers ago in '09
when we went to Florida for the Youth Basketball of America (YBOA)
Nationals. My coach is so funny; he's not the type that'll make us stay
in our hotels when we go to tournaments (especially in Disney!). So, one night we were out by the pool at the hotel and singing karaoke, goofing off, and my coach got up and started dancing in front of the whole place. It was so funny. It was even better that we ended up winning the tournament!

695: Who is your funniest teammate? 

Em:  Everyone on the team has their funny side to them, but Alyssa
Parker (#12) is always the one to make a joke and bring up everyone's
spirits. She's one of our captains and makes everyone laugh all the
time on and off the court.

695: Tell me something people might not know about you... 

Em:  Something people might not know about me is that I often sing when
I'm by myself. I don't consider myself a great singer by all means, but
when a good song comes on when I'm in the car or at home by myself, I
just sing it out loud.

695: Thanks for your time and good luck in the playoffs.

Em: Thank you and I appreciate your time.