The following story is from the Winter 2021 edition of the "Roar Report" that came out just before Christmas. It is authored by Gary D'Amato, the former longtime sportswriter and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who joined the staff as the feature writer for the Roar Report in the Fall of 2018.

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The decision by graduate students Sydney Staver, McKaela Schmelzer and Miquela Santoro to return to the Milwaukee women's basketball team in 2021-'22 as "super seniors" says a lot about them.
 
It goes to the heart of their competitive nature. It reflects the pride they take in putting on the uniform and representing the university. And it speaks to their willingness to make sacrifices in order to continue playing the game they love.
 
It also makes a powerful statement about the culture that has been established under 10th-year head coach Kyle Rechlicz and her staff.
 
"When they decided to come back, there was a sense of pride that we, as a staff and a program, were doing the right things," Rechlicz said. "It meant a lot because it really shows, at least from a program standpoint, that our culture is in the right place."
 
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc around the world. We see the grim statistics every day and are constantly reminded about the devastation caused by the virus. But one small silver lining to the pandemic is that the NCAA granted athletes an unprecedented additional "COVID year" of eligibility.
 
Thus, Staver and Schmelzer are in their fifth seasons playing for Milwaukee and Santoro, who transferred from Winthrop University after three years there, is in her second.
 
"It was an opportunity that no one has seen happen, to play five years," Staver said. "I mean, yeah, I have grad school and it's definitely a really hard program. But I couldn't imagine turning away from this opportunity to play another year. I knew basketball doesn't last forever."
 
To say the three guards are the heart and soul of the team would be an understatement. As of mid-December, they had combined to play in nearly 290 games for Milwaukee. All three are starters, and they play approximately 75 percent of the team's guard minutes. That level of experience and leadership is invaluable – and nearly unheard of – in a college program.
 
"They've been in so many situations on the court that they kind of know what's coming and they know how to play within the flow of the game," Rechlicz said. "It's tough to take them off the floor. We have some young players behind them that are eager and ready for the challenge. But I think the younger players also understand that this is a great opportunity to learn from such successful individuals."
 
The 5-foot-7 Schmelzer, from Loves Park, Ill., is in a league of her own. She is in her fifth season as the Panthers' starting point guard and her sixth in the program (she redshirted as a freshman). Last year, she ranked third in the Horizon League in assists (95) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34) while averaging 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds and shooting 97.2 percent at the free-throw line.
 
For Schmelzer, the decision to come back was a no-brainer.
 
"I get to work my entire life, so I'm going to push that off as long as possible," she said. "I'm in a great situation with the people that are around me. I love the team. I have great coaches. They are people that believe in me and all that good stuff. But also, I'm so competitive. I live for this kind of stuff.
 
"Obviously, there are things that I want to do in life but for me there's no timeline, there's no rush. I want to take advantage of the opportunity that's in front of me. And I've been loving it so far."
 
But there's more to Schmelzer's story. She also was a four-year starter and decorated player on Milwaukee's highly successful women's soccer team. Incredibly, she played every minute in 65 of 79 career matches. As a senior captain in 2019, she was named the Horizon League's Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Panthers to a 17-2-1 record, the conference's tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Schmelzer spent four years going straight from the soccer pitch to the basketball court, all while obtaining an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. She's the epitome of the high achiever.
 
"She's a Hall of Famer, for sure," Rechlicz said. "When you think about the fact that she was able to dedicate herself to two sports for four years and then add basketball for the extra two on top of that … I mean, she's a nine-time letterwinner. This is five years of starting at the point guard for us and then also to be a first-team all-conference soccer player and win as many championships as she did on the soccer field is pretty amazing. She is all heart and she is such a great leader for our team. And she is so competitive. To have that day in and day out at practice and in games has been a blessing."
 
The 5-11 Staver, from Mineral Point, Wis., averaged 9.2 points in 2020-'21 and was Milwaukee's best deep threat, leading the team with 36 three-pointers while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. She also shot 92.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
"I love how competitive basketball is," Staver said. "It's definitely an escape for me from school. It's nice to put everything else in my life away for a few hours and just go to basketball. It's the team, too. These are my best friends. I was so lucky to come and already have friends in college. I didn't have to find my friend group. It was just kind of handed to me."
 
The 5-7 Santoro, from Clarksville, Ohio, transferred to UWM after three less-than-satisfying seasons at Winthrop. She knew she had more to give to the game and just needed to find a program and staff that would bring out her best.
 
"I wasn't satisfied with my college career at Winthrop," she said. "When I got another opportunity to play, I took it because I knew I could do more than what I had done there. I didn't get to go on campus (at Milwaukee) because of COVID. So, I literally met everyone on the staff through Zoom.
 
"This staff just felt like such a family and a blessing, honestly. I could tell they really knew and understood the game of basketball and they were going to put me in the best situation I needed to be in to succeed. I felt all of that through Zoom. And I was like, 'That's where I need to be.'"
 
As a redshirt senior last year, Santoro played in all 28 games and started nine. She averaged 4.8 points and finished second on the team with 26 steals. Earlier this season, she scored 19 points in a 79-67 victory over the University of Wisconsin.
 
"I've already learned so much and I've gained so much confidence being here," she said. "That's something I was lacking a lot of. And then the team atmosphere is amazing. It's just a big family, and you can feel it."
 
Alas, in college athletics all good things must end, even for super seniors. Schmelzer, Staver and Santoro are cherishing every minute of this season with each other, and with their teammates.
 
"I think every game, we're just trying to make it our best," Santoro said. "I think we have put some pressure on ourselves, as well, along with that, but I think we're all just trying to enjoy every game, every last minute with each other."

Said Staver, "It goes so fast. Coming into this fifth year, Coach Rechlicz gave us that talk, like, this is it. The NCAA is not going to say, 'You get another year.' It is not possible. You're out of here. It's kind of a scary feeling, you know? But we're definitely trying to take in every moment we have."