Biography
By Jim Hague
When Carla Cusate graduated from North Arlington High School in 1980, she was looking for a school where she could lessen the financial burden on her ailing mother.
“I definitely wanted to stay close to home, because my mother was rather ill,” Cusate said. “Rutgers-Newark offered me a chance to get an excellent education and gave me a chance to play college basketball.”
Little did Cusate know was that she would become perhaps the most decorated female student/athlete in Rutgers-Newark history.
Cusate was recruited for her basketball skills and she did very well as a point guard for the Scarlet Raider women’s basketball program.
When Cusate graduated in 1984, she was the all-time leading scorer in the school’s history with 1,507 points. She was a four-year letter winner, the team captain as a senior. She was selected to the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women First Team in 1984, played on the New Jersey College Basketball Coaches Association North All-Stars in 1984 and was women’s basketball program’s Most Valuable Player in 1984.
Cusate also led the Scarlet Raiders to the Upsala Invitational Tournament championship in 1982, when she was selected as the tourney’s MVP.
“Winning that tournament and getting the MVP was a great memory for me,” Cusate said. “I also played in that All-Star game at Rutgers and (former Rutgers Hall of Fame coach) Theresa Grentz was my coach. That was pretty special.”
Cusate also remembers the last shot she made as a collegian.
“It was against George Washington,” Cusate recalled. “I used to practice this turnaround jumper off the glass, just for fun. Well, in that game, I tried it and wouldn’t you know? The darn thing went in. I remember that as well.”
However, Cusate’s exploits as an R-N athlete was not confined to basketball.
“Just as an added thing, I played two years of volleyball and two years of softball,” Cusate said. “I played both sports in high school, but I never thought I’d play them in college.”
So while studying a double major in business administration and economics, Cusate managed to be a varsity letter winner in three sports at R-N.
“It was a sacrifice, that’s for sure,” Cusate said. “I also had a job at the same time as well. It wasn’t easy. My friends would always ask me to go out with them and I couldn’t go, because I had to go home to study. I had to use my time wisely. I had to study time management as well.”
Cusate never dreamed that her career would flourish as it did in Newark.
“I also never expected to score that many points,” Cusate said. “Don’t forget, that was before the 3-point shot. I was averaging like 25 points per game. I think I made a goal to score 1,000 points in college, like I did in high school.”
As she was racking up the points, breaking records and earning honors, Cusate didn’t think she was achieving anything special.
“I always felt that I could do better,” Cusate said. “If I had 20 points in a game, I always thought I could have had 22. If I had seven assists, I thought I could have had eight. I’m a self-critic and my own worst enemy at times. I was never satisfied.”
Cusate was also an excellent student, graduating with honors as a Dean’s List student and earning the Rutgers-Newark Outstanding Student/Athlete award in 1984.
“That’s something I’m very proud of, earning that Scholar/Athlete award,” Cusate said.
Upon graduation, Cusate entered into the field of telecommunication, working for a family-owned pager company, running the call center operation as well as doing marketing.
From there, Cusate entered the world of customer care, working for Smith Detection.
“I traveled the world with that job,” Cusate said. “It was very exciting.”
However, just last year, Cusate totally changed careers and began working for Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor in their Morristown offices.
“This is more in tune with what I went to school for,” Cusate said. “It’s where I should have ended up in the first place. I’m back where I should have been.”
Cusate works at Morgan Stanley in Morristown with her brother, John, a fellow R-N alumnus. She lives in Princeton with her husband and two children.
An inductee into the Rutgers-Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987, Cusate said that she was somewhat embarrassed when a client from Canada Googled her name.
“He said, `Hey, you’re famous,’” Cusate said. “He called me asking questions about my career. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
Another article about Cusate was pinned to the company corkboard in the office.
“I never looked at it that it was something great,” Cusate said. “It was always a means to an end. I didn’t pay much attention to it when I was playing.”
But now, her plaque in the Golden Dome has been spotted by a nephew and a niece, as well as her son. Her name permanently appears in the Rutgers-Newark annals as an all-time great. Carla Cusate was indeed something special.
“Well, I would do it all over again,” Cusate said. “I went to a school that is recognized all over the world. I met a lot of people participating in all those activities. Yes, it was a great place for me to go.”
