By Kyle Roberts
She’s baaaaaack.
Former Cedar Creek prep star and all-conference standout Anna Larr Roberson has elected to take her fifth COVID year and will suit up in the historic Columbia blue for one final season with Louisiana Tech.
Roberson said plenty went into making the decision but at the end of the day it came down to one more opportunity to play college basketball.
“I love the girls on the team,” Roberson said. “I want to be able to come back and be with them and pursue my master’s degree. I’m lucky enough to have a fifth year to play, so I want to take it.
“I’m going to take this opportunity and make something great out it.”
Lady Techster head coach Brooke Stoehr said she is thrilled to have Roberson return for the upcoming season.
“Anytime you can have a person, leader and player of Anna Larr’s caliber in your program it certainly makes us all better,” Stoehr said. “She brings a great deal of experience, consistency and toughness to our group. She has been an integral part of the Lady Techsters’ family over the last four years, and it’s been a pleasure to watch her grow and develop as a young woman and player.”
Roberson has given tremendous thought during these last few months after last year’s injury-riddled season about what she wanted to do moving forward. Since the season came to an end with a loss to UTEP in the 2023 Conference USA Tournament in Frisco, Roberson has tried to step away from the court both mentally and physically.
“I kind of wanted to take my time and focus on school and also let my body heal,” Roberson said. “Coach Brooke and I talked, and she said ‘We want you to take a break for a second; get away and be with family and friends.
“Last year was mentally tough for me with injuries, and I wanted (to take time to) rebuild my body a bit. That was my thought process behind it all.”
Stoehr was more than happy to give Roberson the time she needed to weigh everything out in order to make the best decision for her.
“She and I have had numerous conversations over the last several months,” Stoehr said. “As I’ve stated all along, I wanted to make sure she had time to process this past season and have some space to do so. It has been exciting to see and hear her passion for the program during our conversations. She has a joy about her and an excitement for the opportunity to compete with this group for another year.”
Roberson is scheduled to earn her bachelor’s degree in business management this fall and said she plans to begin pursuing her master’s degree in the winter. She will return to the hardwood and be a centerpiece for the Tech roster this upcoming year.
“Obviously, she faced a great deal of adversity battling through injuries this past season.” said Stoehr. “We had players step up during that time and saw some big time growth from our younger interior players. The emergence of Mackenzie (Wurm), Kate (Thompson) and Amaya (Brannon) last season and the continued development of Ayen (Angoi) during the spring and summer provides our team with solid post depth going into the season.”
Roberson finished the 2022-23 season as Tech’s second leading scorer with 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She came into the season as a preseason all-conference pick in Conference-USA.
