Former PB, TRC standout named assistant

Former Poplar Bluff and Three Rivers College standout Marissa Webb has spent the last few seaons among the coaching ranks and as of a few days ago, she has her next landing spot.

Webb was named an assistant coach for the Salukis women’s basketball team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

“It was the selling point of just the family feel,” Webb said of her decision to join second-year head coach Kelly Bond-White’s staff.

Bond-White was chosen a year ago to lead the Salukis after a successful career as an assistant, which included a National Championship, at Texas A&M University.

“Coach Webb has been a blessing to this program,” Bond-White said in a release. “The best are always highly sought after. So I knew she had quite a few choices. But, there was something about our conversations I kept coming back to. She’s a winner that carries a spirit of joy. Our young people need that. I also knew I wanted someone from this Southern Illinois region that had competed for championships.”

Webb joins SIU after a year at the University of Arkansas-Monticello but before that, she was a successful assistant at her alma mater where she helped the Raiders to a 52-2 record in two seasons with Alex Wiggs at the helm of TRC.

“It was magical,” she saod of her time with Three Rivers as an assistant. “Being able to come together with coach Wiggs whenever he got his first head coaching job, we kind of put our brains together. I had played in that system and he had worked in coach (Jeff) Walk’s system.”

Webb added one year was during Covid where they didn’t play their first game until January and had 90 days of preseason.

“It was wild, but the community got to be there and got to be a part of that,” she said. “It gave them something to at least look forward to.”

One perk of being in Carbondale for Webb is its location to Poplar Bluff. In less than two hours she can be back with her family, which includes her sister and new Lady Mules head basketball coach and, Suley Dugan.

“My family is so tight knit that it just made it sweeter,” she said.

Webb said with a great-grandmother that’s almost 90 and a new nephew, being close to her family and being able to share in those memories was key.

“I get to finally be be a part of some stuff,” she said. “That to me is what it’s about. When you can do what you love and because of the ones that you love, it’s full circle, so I love it.”

Webb said she’s already talked to her sister about her plans for the program at their former stomping grounds and she said she couldn’t be more excited to see where the Lady Mules are headed.

“We prayed about it,” she said. “Just being able to see her finally get a goal that she’s been wanting and shooting for.”

Webb said it’s time for Dugas to make her mark.

“Basketball is family,” she said. “You always are going behind somebody but being able to make your own mark, I’ve never been able to coach high school so this is her saying ‘hey, this is where I want to dominate.’”

Webb joins a roster that went 12-19 last season but returns solid guards in Quierra Love and Jaidynn Mason.

“I wanted to bring some energy on the court and more perspective,” she said. “I’ve been to quite a few different programs ... Being able to work with some awesome coaches along the way.”