Moments before the Waterville High School freshman girls basketball team took the court on February 18 to face Morse High School, a parent bearing a corsage ran up to Jessica Stitt '00, a 6-foot, 3-inch, 19-year-old from Amherst, N.H. "It's a tradition that the coach gets flowers for the last home game," the parent said as a slightly embarrassed Stitt pinned the arrangement to her sweater next to a button made by the team that read, "We love you, Coach!" When she came to Colby, Stitt, who captained a state champion girls basketball team at Souhegan (N.H.) High School, declined a chance to play intercollegiate ball because she has a form of muscular dystrophy. But she couldn't stay away from the game she loves. When she saw the coaching position at Waterville High advertised in the local newspaper last fall, she applied, despite having no experience in coaching. She was hired and by season's end was adored by both her players and their grateful parents. "I've learned so much about basketball, and I've grown so much as a person all because of you," wrote one player in a card tucked inside a gift bag full of Sunburst and Jolly Ranchers candy. Stitt was more than a coach. When a player's Spanish grade began to slip, Stitt held tutoring sessions in her room in Foss. She drove players to and from practices and games, listened to their boy troubles, acted like a big sister. The team raided her closet for shirts and sweaters and then wore them as good-luck talismans on the day of a big game. Stephen and Susan Stitt, biological parents of the coach and adoptive parents of the team, twice made the three-hour drive from Amherst, N.H., to sponsor team dinners at Pizza Hut. For Stitt, who says the experience reinforced her desire to become a teacher, the chance to stay involved with basketball brought unexpected fulfillment. "When I first came to school, I kind of lost my sense of immediate family," she said. "The team became my family away from home. When I told my mother how much I was enjoying the work, she said, `You are what they needed, and they are exactly what you needed.'" Though Waterville defeated Morse to close out a winning season, the joy was short-lived on that afternoon in February. Players sobbed, clutched each other and their coach and admonished each other not to lose touch. "It's not behind me at all," said Stitt, who currently is being lobbied by her players to start an A.A.U. team this spring and to apply for the junior varsity coaching position next year. "I'm going to get the spring schedule so I can attend their softball games and track meets." A letter given to Stitt by a parent following the season-ending Morse game speaks to the level of respect the Colby first-year student earned. "I felt like you were a breath of fresh air for these girls," the letter said. "Not once did I see any crying, never did one player belittle another who was not quite as skilled, never did I see you yell or shame a player that might not have carried out the play you intended. Never once did you blame a loss on referee calls. You accepted a loss graciously, and you were a shining example for these kids. Thank you!" "I didn't realize I had done so much," said Stitt after reading the letter. "I've never been so proud of myself."