It was Winter Break at Syracuse University. Rochelle Coleman and Krystalyn Ellerbe didn’t have any classes to worry about before or after practice. So the two roommates became two of Blockbuster Video’s top customers. They bought a Blockbuster movie pass, and would raid the shelves every two nights and give their television a longer workout than two days of women’s basketball practice.

Coleman and Ellerbe watched old black and white movies, foreign films – Ellerbe insists on subtitles though – and the standard big-name flicks. They’d watch up to three movies every night.

But their friendship and ability to coexist as roommates is much more complex than similar tastes in motion pictures. Coleman and Ellerbe’s friendship started when they were both 11 years old in Maryland, as two promising basketball players on the Amateur Athletic Union circuit. After attending different high schools, the pair reunited in Syracuse.

‘She’s a leader by example,’ Ellerbe said of Coleman. ‘But when she does speak, you’re going to listen because it’s very rare that she says something.’

‘Krystalyn’s real laid back, just a chill person,’ Coleman said. ‘She’s just cool to be around.’

They attended different schools, Ellerbe went to The Bullis School in Potomac, Md., and Coleman attended Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Md. Ellerbe played for Wayne Ferrell, the same man who coached Coleman and Ellerbe in AAU basketball for the Lady Classics. Ellerbe had a fine supporting cast, playing alongside Monique Currie, who is a Wooden Award Candidate at Duke. Ferrell’s daughter, Erin, was also a key player for the Lady Bulldogs. Erin Ferrell plays against Currie for Wake Forest. Those three, along with Coleman, led the Classics to the 1998 AAU National Championship in the 14-and-under division.

‘Out of any group that I’ve coached, I was closest with them because they were friends with my daughter,’ Wayne Ferrell said. ‘Krystalyn was very shy when she first came, but she became more open with us and it was like having another daughter on the team.’

Bullis is an hour away from Ellerbe’s home in Clinton, and she would sometimes stay with the Ferrell’s if winter weather made the commute even longer. Coleman stayed local, playing for Heather Podosek at Paint Branch, and eventually became the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Bullis and Paint Branch scrimmaged a few times in that four-year span, but not in the regular season because Bullis is a private school and Paint Branch is public. But they each had their share of successes. Ferrell still remembers a game in Ellerbe’s junior year when Bullis played Riverdale Baptist High School, which featured seven future Division I players. Riverdale was undefeated and beat solid teams by 20 and 30 points. But Bullis ended Riverdale’s 29-game win streak with a convincing 15-point victory on its way to a 27-2 season.

‘Monique just took (current N.C. State standout Tiffany) Stansbury to town,’ Ferrell said. ‘But what really stood out was Krystalyn hit some crucial baskets because we were down at first. The second half, we came alive.’

Ellerbe could hit the open jump shot, but was at her best leading the fast break and playing tenacious defense. This caught the attention of former SU head coach Marianna Freeman. Ferrell was at Ellerbe’s home when Freeman visited.

‘I had attended other visits with her but you could tell that was going to be a good relationship,’ Ferrell said.

Freeman also went after Coleman, and Podosek played a big part in her player’s recruiting process, too.

But neither guard realized the other had interest in Syracuse.

‘That was just a mere coincidence,’ Coleman said. ‘I didn’t know until I came up on a visit.’

But their reunion waited an extra year. Ellerbe played one season at Tallahassee Community College before arriving at SU. That left only one year for the duo to play under Freeman, who left at the end of the 2002-2003 season.

Freeman was replaced by current head coach Keith Cieplicki, a man who didn’t recruit Ellerbe or Coleman. Both players made their decision to come to Syracuse based largely on strong relationships with Freeman.

‘When (Freeman) left it was very hard on me,’ Ellerbe said. ‘I came here for her. She knew how I played, my style of basketball. (Cieplicki) didn’t know anything about me. It was just something I had to deal with.’

Said Podosek: ‘It’s obviously a different style now and Rochelle’s done a great job of figuring out what he wants. She wants to win and she’s just trying to step up.’

Podosek says she talks to Coleman once a month, and even e-mailed her former star information about a coaching seminar, a profession that interests Coleman. Coleman is a favorite amongst first grade hoopsters at elementary clinics. Ferrell caught up with Ellerbe when he called to wish her a happy birthday. But the two senior guards rely on each other through the trials and tribulations. And they’ve found out a lot more about each other than what side of the court they prefer to shoot from.

‘I think their relationship developed more when they were (in Syracuse),’ Coleman’s father, Vaughn Simmons said on Feb. 26, when SU played Seton Hall. ‘(The honor) is a long time coming.’

During that game, Ellerbe and Coleman formed the starting backcourt for possibly the final time in their playing careers. They alternated point guard duties and played pressure defense, forcing a shot clock violation before the regular starters subbed in. Coleman went back to running the offense and Ellerbe took her usual seat at the end of the bench, leaned back, arms outstretched over the adjacent chairs, cheering for her roommate.

Ellerbe and Coleman will graduate in May. Ellerbe is the first person in her family to earn a college degree. Coleman will complete her major in history, something Ellerbe uses to her advantage.

‘If you have a problem, she pretty much has the answers,’ Ellerbe said. ‘She knows everything about music, any sport, and she’s just very friendly. She’s a well-rounded person and has all types of friends.’

But none greater than her roommate. Ellerbe and Coleman don’t revel in the spotlight of a Division I athlete at a major college. They prefer to sit at home, watch movies and just take it easy in a friendship that no movie could ever recreate.

‘They will always be special to me because they were always a part of my family,’ Ferrell said. ‘They’re kids that I’ll follow all their lives.’

Published on February 28, 2005 at 12:00 pm