Marian Washington leaned back slowly in her chair, took a deep breath and smiled.

Washington will enter her 30th year as Kansas University’s women’s basketball coach coming off what was easily the worst season she has ever had.

Marian Washington suffered through her worst season in 29 years during in 2001-2002.

The Jayhawks compiled a 5-25 record, including an unprecedented 0-for-16 mark in Big 12 Conference games, last season. KU didn’t win a single game in 2002, losing the last 17.

“Sometimes I don’t know how I got through it,” Washington said. “I relied heavily on God, my family and friends.”

So perhaps a long getaway was in store for the 15th active winningest women’s college basketball coach?

“I haven’t really had time to go anywhere,” Washington said. “But I’ve been able to get some rest.”

That’s probably a good thing because Washington will probably again need all her energy during a 2002-2003 season that could prove challenging.

“We are realistic,” Washington said. “We think that we can play at a .500 level. It’ll be tough, but nothing like last year.”

Indeed, nothing could have prepared the veteran coach for last season’s tailspin.

“Two seasons ago we were disappointed when we fell below .500, so we knew it was going to be kind of rough the next year,” Washington said. “But nobody could have known how rough it was going to be.”

Blair Waltz is the only returning player who averaged more than five points last season.

The Jayhawks were low on talent compared to other conference foes seven finished in the Top 25 in the polls and never came closer than seven points in any of their 16 losses, despite hanging around in several defeats.

The top four scorers from last year are gone and the only returnee who averaged more than five points a game is Leawood native Blair Waltz (6.2 ppg.), who as a sophomore may be the only returning player to start.

Washington will be relying heavily on newcomers. She signed seven recruits in a class that was rated the 12th best in the nation by All-Star Girls Report.

“The freshman have already told me they are up for the challenge,” Washington said. “We’ll put them out there for sure, and they’ll have to gain experience on the run.”

Two of the seven newcomers are Sunflower state products. Both Topeka’s Crystal Kemp and Overland Park Aquinas grad Ebony Haliburton were honorable mention All-America selections by Street and Smith magazine.

Washington’s top recruit, however, is probably Tamara Ransburg, a 6-foot-4 forward from Virginia Beach, Va., who averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds as a junior. She chose KU over UConn, Old Dominion, Duke and North Carolina.

Another signee of note is Erica Hallman, a 5-foot-10 guard who was named Miss Kentucky Basketball after leading Covington, Ky., Holmes High to a 29-6 record and the No. 1 ranking in the state. She averaged 21.1 points a game.

The other KU signees are 5-9 Aquaneta Barnes, a transfer from Central Arizona CC, and high schoolers Nichelle Roberts (6-1 of Houston, Texas) and Alicia Rhymes (6-0 of Shreveport, La.) Another more or less new face is Sereeta Jones, a 6-0 freshman from Vista, Calif., who was red-shirted last season.

The remainder of Washington’s senior-less squad will consist of juniors Sharonnpencer, Leila Meng Keila Beachem; and sophs Valerie Migicovsky, Bradi McGinest and Waltz.

Marian Washington will face the challenge of replacing her top four scorers from last season.

“We’re going to be a young squad that may take a little time to win, but it won’t be anything like last year,” Washington said. “We have a talented group of players that are going to help turn this thing around.”

In addition, Washington is happy to have Tim Eatman back as an assistant coach. Eatman spent the past four seasons as head coach at Illinois-Chicago.

Obviously, Washington is hoping the two-year stretch of losing seasons will end this year. She received a vote of confidence from athletic director Al Bohl following the dismal 2001-2002 campaign, but realizes she can’t take too long to right the ship.

“We’re going to come out and compete,” Washington said. “Last year was about as tough as they come, but it wasn’t like building a program from scratch. We’re rebuilding from the ground up, but we have some players who will make a difference.”