SLIPPERY ROCK — Amber McFeely Osborn played point guard for a legendary high school girls basketball coach in Roger Flynn and coached with another in John Tabisz.

Now, Osborn is in charge of her own girls basketball program.

Osborn, who starred as a player at Grove City High School as point guard on Flynn's successful Eagles' teams and served as Tabisz's assistant at Slippery Rock for the last three years, was hired as the Rockets' girls basketball coach this summer.

“I really am excited about it,” Osborn said. “And I'm also nervous because, obviously, I always want to do well.”

Tabisz went 44-24 with Slippery Rock over three seasons — all with Osborn seated next to him on the bench — and resigned in the spring after his third stint as the girls basketball coach at the school.

At the time of his resignation, he hoped Osborn would get the job.

She did.

“She's going to bring energy and she's a student of the game,” Tabisz said. “When we broke down film, she was unbelievable. You could tell she was a point guard. She has that point guard mentality.”

And she also has something else that will give her an edge as a head girls basketball coach, Tabisz said.

“She has a thick skin because she's always been told she was too small to play,” Tabisz said of the 5-foot-4 Osborn, who also starred at Slippery Rock University. “In the ninth grade she weighed 80 pounds and people told her she was too small to play. They told her she was too small to play at the Division II level, but she went to SRU and wasn't just on the team, she played well there.

“She has a little bit of a chip on her shoulder,” Tabisz said. “That will serve her well as a coach.”

Osborn shares many of the same philosophies with Tabisz, but said she will alter the offense a little bit.

“I'll probably add some stuff,” Osborn said. “Probably more motion stiff, but not a lot will be different.”

What will be different is Osborn will be the leader of the program now, a roll she has aspired to fill.

It helps that she is familiar with the entire roster and has coached many of them.

The Rockets return a slew of talent, even with the loss of Marissa Siebka, Lilly Weitzel and Hope Schnell.

Slippery Rock will be buoyed by the return to full strength of senior Jenna Whitmer, who returned late last season after tearing her ACL. The Rockets also have a strong inside presence in senior Sedona Campbell — who bounced back from her own ACL tear last season — the solid play at the point from senior Elena McDermott and the sharp outside shooting of senior Steph Croll.

“I don't want to let these seniors down,” Osborn said. “We have a strong group of players who have accomplished so much and I want them to do well.”

Osborn has the makings of her own basketball team at home as well.

Osborn and her husband, Doug, just welcomed their fifth child, Willa, to the fold a month ago.

The couple also has Maddie, 7, Kyle, 6, Bri, 4, and Jude, 2, in their brood.

“They all love going to the gym,” Osborn said.

Coaching would not be possible, Osborn said, without the help from her mother, Sally.

“She's a saint,” Osborn said. “Honestly, I wouldn't be able to do it without her.”