Marissa Webb jokes that she and her Raider teammates once couldn’t wait until graduation. Then as graduation neared, they wished Three Rivers was a four-year school. Almost a decade later, she considers many of her best friends people from Three Rivers They are those friends who are family.

“When I started coaching, I tried to help all these other communities try to simulate that,” Webb said.

Ultimately, Webb decided she wanted to return home and be a part of both her families once again. But she moved home during the pandemic.

After playing for Poplar Bluff and then Three Rivers, Webb played for William Woods and went to two national tournaments.

After that, she was a graduate assistant at Western Illinois for two years and went to the NCAA tournament both years. Then a year at Southeastern Illinois and a year at Doane University in Nebraska.

Along the way, she was also a summer intern for Three Rivers during what was coach Alex Wiggs’ first year as an assistant.

“The first two Lady Raiders that I even worked out was Autumn Dodd and Chaylea Mosby, and I tried to recruit them when I was at a different college,” Webb said of the two sophomores on last year’s team who graduated from Neelyville and Dexter. “Just having them being my first exposure coming back helped set the tone for the others trusting me.”

She initially volunteered for Wiggs, who had just become head coach after Jeff Walk retired, but couldn’t hire a new assistant because of the pandemic. However, Webb could get a job at the college as an academic advisor and college recruiter.

She calls it her job “up the hill,” referring to the Welcome Center’s elevated location. Her job down the hill as an assistant coach helping lead Three Rivers to an undefeated regular season and a semifinal appearance in the national tournament wasn’t in her official title. However, that changed at Three Rivers’ board meeting in June when it approved the 2021-22 budget and made Webb a full-time assistant coach.

“It paid off. It was definitely a sacrifice,” Webb said. “To help get those girls the same experience I had, and even better, was worth it.”

Part of her job was to make sure athletes had academic plans and were on track for graduation. An organized person, Webb said it was the first year all athletes had academic plans throughout graduation. She also had to check financial aid, scholarships and coordinate with high schools, among other things.

Then there was basketball practice, scouting opponents, monitoring player workouts in the evenings, curfew checks.

“The workload is going to change. I can do my basketball work during the day now,” Webb said. “Whenever you left the office (in the fall), you were done for the day. During the season, you never slept.”

Because the basketball season didn’t start until late January, and because Three Rivers played so far into the postseason, Webb was two weeks away from finals and then graduation by the time the basketball season ended.

Soon after the school year ended, she took a trip to Texas.

“That was the first time I had three days off for the year,” Webb said.

She’s hoping things will slow down a little in July. She’ll be in her office in the Libla Family Sports Complex full time. The Raiders, who were beating the eventual national champions after three quarters, hope to build on their success.

“We’re so excited. Now (coach Wiggs and I) get to communicate more hours in the day, bounce ideas off each other,” Webb said. “This year was just the foundation.”

Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic