Tara Heiss’ legacy on Maryland women’s basketball continues to live on in alumni game and beyond

Photo Courtesy: Alexa Wootten

Maryland women’s basketball preaches a tradition of continued excellence. That excellence had to start somewhere or with someone.

Tara Heiss, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, was the first great point guard for Maryland.

“When I hear the name Tara Heiss, I think of just her legacy,” coach Brenda Frese said. “All that she’s meant to Maryland, and really set the foundation for everything to follow.”

The 5-foot-6 point guard was the first of many — the first-ever ACC women’s basketball tournament MVP, the program’s first 1,000-point scorer, and she set the first program assist record which still sits third all-time. But it wasn’t just individual accomplishments that defined Heiss’ impact on Maryland.

“We went to the first ACC Tournament, we went to the first National Tournament, we got the first television play — all through that team being so good, and she led it,” said Martha Hastings, a former teammate and friend of Heiss.

Hastings played for Maryland from 1974-1977, graduating a year before Heiss, and was an assistant coach for the 1977-78 season. The two were teammates before heading to College Park, playing together at Walter Johnson High School. 

Despite losing to UCLA in the 1978 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women’s National Tournament Championship, Heiss helped put the Terps on the map. From that point on, Maryland women’s basketball was a top program recruits wanted to play for — the tradition of excellence had begun.

Heiss passed away 66 years old this past July, a loss truly felt by the Maryland community. 

“I know when we heard the news that Tara had passed, our staff had felt it was really important that we honored her legacy,” Frese said.

To celebrate the legacy she built here, Maryland women’s basketball decided to honor her with a number 44 patch in its season opener Nov. 6.

“[Seeing the team wearing the patch]” made me feel proud,” Hastings said with tears in her eyes. “They’re carrying a legacy and they do a good job of it. Maryland’s always in the fight. I just hope they know who she is.”

The players certainly do. Frese made sure to talk to her team about Heiss before their season opener.

“I think it was really important for them to understand just how hardworking she was, just all the success she had, and how she embodied the Maryland uniform,” Frese said.

While Heiss is now known as the Terps’ point guard, she came to Maryland as a scorer first. Heiss told the Washington Post in 1977 that when she got to College Park she really worked on her passing to become the point guard she became.

“There’s so many things that our players can take away from Tara,” Frese said. “And I think for someone like Riley [Nelson], she’s been thrusted into that position as a scoring guard to play some of those backup [point guard] responsibilities, so to have an example of someone who had so much success … it allows others to understand that’s a role they can take on.”

Frese sees similarities between the Hall of Famer and Nelson, and as well in her starting point guard Shyanne Sellers  , in their passion and ability to get others involved. Both Terps feel the pride of wearing the patch of the first great Maryland point guard.

“Obviously, you know she won the first ACC Championship here, first Final Four, first 1,000-point scorer — it means a lot to just wear that patch and just to know that we’re carrying on her legacy,” Nelson said.

“She kind of set the pathway for us to come in and set the tone with a dominant point guard for Maryland, and you see Maryland has a history of getting pretty great point guards, so I think it just meant a lot to me,” Sellers said.

Heiss laid the foundation for excellence at Maryland. A groundwork that has continued year after year.

“I came here you know to be a part of a big-time program, to be challenged, to be put up against the number one teams in the nation,” Nelson said. “So I think she would be proud of what we’re doing here today and just to continue that legacy for her.”

Heiss’ teammates, friends and family will get to see the current team when they come together Jan. 20, for Maryland’s alumni game, where the Terps will wear the number 44 on their shooting shirts in honor of Heiss.