Slippery Rock University and University of Maryland standout Carrie Basye-Becker became the 19th inductee to the Hall of Fame and the eighth Slippery Rock player or coach honored joining Dr. Richard Hunkler (2002), Lynn Kachmarik (2003), John Barrett (2004), Sue Kolczak (2005), Robbie Bova (2006), Diane Stein Swigart (2009) and Leslie Entwistle (2010).

Among a litany of outstanding players of her generation, Basye-Becker achieved success on the collegiate, Junior National, National and Master Division levels during a close to 20-year run in the sport of water polo.

The 1993 and 1994 National Player of the Year, she led “The Rock” to an astonishing 73-4 mark over three seasons as SRU placed second (1992, 1994) and third (1993) in the nation during her career in the Green & White.

During just her first two seasons as a collegiate player, she posted 116 goals and 44 assists for 160 points while earning back-to-back All-America awards.

As a freshman, she put up 62 goals (second on the team) and 29 assists, while grabbing a team best 56 steals in powering Slippery Rock to a 22-2 mark and a third place finish at Nationals.  For her performance, she picked up All-America honors.

In 1993, she outdid her freshman run by earning National Player of the Year honors for leading “The Rock” to a second place finish at Nationals and a 20-1 record as Basye-Becker contributed team bests in goals (54) and assists (15).  Following her second straight All-America season, she represented her country by joining Team USA for the Women’s World Cup.

During her junior campaign of 1994, she picked up her second National Player of the Year nod and third All-America certificate for helping SRU reach its second National Championship game in as many years and register a 31-1 record.  The Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Water Polo Association (EWPA), the forerunner of today’s Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), she garnered EWPA All-Conference First Team honors.  In limited historical data at SRU, she is known to have posted 36 goals and 34 assists through 17 games.

Based on the known statistical data from the Slippery Rock archives, she recorded 152 goals and 78 assists during 62 games, an average of 2.45 goals, 1.26 assists and 3.71 points per game against the nation’s best players.

Although she left Slippery Rock prior to the 1995 season, she helped lay the foundation for that season’s Rock team which went on to claim the only National Championship by an East Coast team in the sport of water polo.

Beyond water polo, Basye-Becker excelled in swimming at Slippery Rock as she continues to hold a Morrow Field House pool record in the 1000 freestyle (10:40.63), along with school marks in the 500 freestyle (5:12.24), 1000 freestyle (10:40.63) and 1650 freestyle (17:54.35).  In addition, she earned All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) honors for placing third in the 400 individual medley during the 1992 PSAC Championships.

Her success was not limited to collegiate competition as she garnered experience on the Junior National and Senior National Team levels as an athlete for Team USA.

Prior to arriving at SRU, she gained experience on the Junior National Team as she competed in the USA Senior/Junior International Tournament in Davis, Calif (1986), the first World Invitational a the United States Naval Academy (1987) and the Hawaii Invitational (1987), while traveling with the US National Team on a training trip to Italy and Greece in 1989.

Immediately prior to and during her tenure at Slippery Rock, she continued to excel competing at the 1988-1994 United States Water Polo Senior Nationals in Novato, Calif.  Further, she attended the 1990-94 U.S. Olympic Festivals in Minneapolis (1990), Los Angeles (1991), San Antonio (1993) and St. Louis (1994).

On the international level, she helped Team USA finish third at the 1991 FINA World Cup in Long Beach, Calif. to start a three-year run among the world’s best players.  A member of the champion Team USA at the 1992 Pan America Tournament, an event established to promote the inclusion of women’s water polo in the Pan-American Games, she aided the National Team in claiming the Canadian Cup in Quebec, Canada during the same year.

In 1993, she played as a member of the United States teams at the Greece International Women’s Invitational (second place) and the FINA World Cup in Catania, Italy (fifth place).  She gave back to the sport in 1994 as part of Team USA’s development clinics in England and France, while also participating in a Training Tour in Holland leading up to a fourth place finish at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy.

In 1995, she traveled to Las Vegas to aid Sandy Nitta in starting Team Vegas Water Polo.  After coaching Team Vegas at the club and Masters levels, she returned to the state of Maryland to complete her degree at the University of Maryland.  While at Maryland, she competed in club water polo under fellow CWPA Hall of Fame inductee John Barrett and graduated in May 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

As recently as 2007-09 she played with Team Vegas, including competition in the 2008 Master’s Nationals in California, before relocating with her husband, Robby, to Miami, Fla.

1992 Slippery Rock University

Carrie Basye-Becker in Masters play