Induction Speech
The 1999-2000 PSAC East Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Year, Safiyyah Bashir was a four-year star for Coach Mary Fleig’s Marauders and a driving force behind teams that averaged 21 wins per season and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. She is one of just four players in program history to be named the league’s player of the year and one of three to be named All-PSAC East three times.
Bashir, a three-time All-PSAC East First Team selection and the team’s Sixth Player Award winner as a freshman, was a feared defensive player that still ranks second in school history in career steals with 414. When she completed her eligibility in 2001, she owned PSAC records for career steals and her 131 steals in 1998-99 stood as the top mark until future teammate Gema Robles topped it four years later. Three years in a row she was named the team’s defensive player of the year and twice she was the team’s MVP.
Despite playing alongside of Sara Burcin, the program’s all-time leading scorer, Bashir still managed to total 1,266 points to rank ninth all-time. She wasn’t only a scorer, though, as she totaled 457 assists and averaged 4.0 per game during her career. That total places her fourth all-time.
In addition to her PSAC plaudits, Bashir was named Daktronics All-East Region three times and WBCA Division II All-District 2 twice.
After leading the team in steals as a freshman, Bashir more than doubled her scoring average to 13.3 and averaged 4.3 assists per game in leading the Marauders to a 22-8 record and into the second round of the NCAA Division II East Regional as a sophomore. During that season she also tied a school record with 10 steals in a game against Longwood.
In her PSAC East Athlete of the Year-winning season of 1999-2000, Bashir averaged 11.5 points per game, totaled 146 assists and 103 steals. The team posted a 25-7 overall record and an 11-1 PSAC East mark, reached the PSAC Championship game and the NCAA Division II East Regional final.
As a senior in 2000-01, Bashir was a Daktronics All-East Region First Team selection after totaling 107 assists, 109 steals and averaging 12.5 points per game while the Marauders went 21-6.
Bashir completed her bachelor’s degree in education in 2004. She is currently working as a therapeutic staff support while working to become a registered nurse through the Harrisburg Area Community College nursing program.
