SLIPPERY ROCK — It was easy to overlook Molly Weitzel.

At 5-feet-6 and barely 100 pounds, Weitzel appeared frail and weak — hardly a basketball player worthy of much thought.

But when she dove for a loose ball, crashed into the fray for a rebound or hounded an opponent with stifling, aggressive defense, Weitzel was hard to miss.

The senior guard on the Slippery Rock High girls basketball team zipped around like a spinning top — and often toppled over — to get the job done.

“It's just because I'm so small,” Weitzel said. “I figured I better play like that because I'm not going to get any bigger.”

Weitzel played much larger than her frame. Now she is playing an even bigger role in the program just weeks after her career ended.

Slippery Rock varsity girls basketball coach Adrienne Orris needed a coach for the seventh- and eighth-grade team. She immediately thought of Weitzel.

“She's my only senior this year who played all four years for me,” Orris said. “She has the patience and desire, and the kids are really excited about having Coach Molly there.”

Coach Molly is just as happy to be there.

Weitzel said coaching is something she's always wanted to do. She just never thought she'd be doing it so soon.

“(Orris) came to me out of the blue and asked me to do it,” Weitzel said. “I thought she already had people to do it. I was so excited when she asked me.”

Weitzel also was nervous.

She stood before the team on the first day and wondered if they would respect her and listen to what she had to tell them.

But as practice started and Weitzel began interacting with the team, things fell into place.

Her biggest endorsement came from her sister, Lilly, who is on the team.

“(Lilly) thought it was kind of funny that I was coaching her,” Weitzel said. “We have a typical sister relationship, but she told me I did a really good job and that made me feel better.”

Coaching has taken away some of the sting she felt at the end of her playing career.

Slippery Rock went 10-12 this season and missed the playoffs.

Despite her diminutive size, Weitzel led the Rockets with 6.4 rebounds per game.

Even Weitzel was shocked at that statistic, letting out a loud laugh before saying, “No way! That is so funny.”

Orris, however, wasn't so surprised.

“She's tough,” Orris said. “She's a fighter.”

Weitzel also is an accomplished soccer player who will play the sport at Grove City College in the fall.

She will major in math and hopes to teach and coach when she graduates.

Weitzel already has an early start in coaching.

“I'm just so happy I got this chance,” Weitzel said. “When basketball ended, I was just sort of hanging around. I didn't know what to do with myself and then this came up. The kids are so nice and fun to be around.”