Hutlassa to suit up as a Panther for her last time

Brandon Wise / Asst. Sports Director

brandon.wise@fiusm.com

If most of us were put on another continent and forced to learn the language as quickly as possible, we would fail miserably. The transition would make us angry because of how different everything is. Not redshirt senior Fanni Hutlassa.

“I already knew English kind of, but the first two months when I came here for the summer was the most helpful,” Hutlassa said. “I still didn’t understand much, but I picked it up real fast. Europe is so different from here, but it’s a good different. Everything was new and exciting so the transition was easy.”

Hutlassa came to FIU from Budapest, Hungary in 2007 where she was a

member of the Hungarian U-18 national team.

She played in every game as a freshman before entering her sophomore campaign. Her season was cut short due to a knee injury. She thinks her career has gone just about the way she expected.

“It was a little wavy because I had the knee surgery,” Hutlassa said. “I had a lot to learn but I think I started good. The knee surgery really humbled me. It really motivated me.”

Her relationship with head coach Cindy Russo has been interesting to say the least. The two can be seen on the sidelines getting into about plays.

“We had our ups and downs. We have known each other for five years. I know she knows what I can do,” Hutlassa said. “We have a regular player and coach relationship. I have to do what she tells me to do and I do it, most of the time. If not, she screams at me and I do it next time.”

Russo believes she is an individual who had all the potential in the world.

“Fanni [Hutlassa] has been a really interesting individual. She’s full of talent,” Russo said. “She went out there and did her job. She loves the game. She is someone I’d keep as a friend for the rest of my life.”

Hutlassa is currently the second highest scoring Panther at 12.7 points per game, behind the scintillating sophomore, Jerica Coley. She thinks that her success has been great, but Coley can’t do it alone.

“Jerica is a great player. She is still young,” Hutlassa said. “She learns so fast, she wants to work with her players. It helps me a lot because she gets my attention away from other teams.”

Hutlassa is currently finishing up her master’s degree and hopes to play professionally after her career is over at FIU.

 

One last time

 

The Panthers are preparing for their final home game of the season against South Alabama. The team could either become the third seed with the win or the fourth seed with a loss. Russo doesn’t want to worry about seeding right now.

“No, because you never know. Would it be good to meet Little Rock Arkansas in your second game and get it over with or play Middle [Tennessee] in your third game? They are both a tough matchup,” Russo said. “We could come in third or fourth. We win these two games and we get Middle [Tennessee]. I think that we have a better chance of beating Little Rock than Middle because they are so athletic.”

After going 1-1 in their final road trip of the season against UALR and Arkansas State, Russo believes that this team is still searching for an identity.

“We really haven’t had a game where we have played two good halves,” Russo said. “What I add that to is a team that doesn’t have a personality, really doesn’t know who they are.”

Russo has become so frustrated with how the team has struggled to rebound that she has actually put caps on the rims so that the team doesn’t have anything to shoot at.

The Panthers could also be without the services of Kamika Idom who went to get an x-ray on her ankle after practice. Russo expects her to be available to play.