Colonie’s Rosales is leaving her investment career for Siena women’s basketball

At 28, Sydney Rosales, a graduate of Colonie High, was already a success story.

She rose to senior associate and chief of staff at Goldman Sachs. Rosales joined the investment bank and financial services company after graduating from Marist, where he had an injury-plagued basketball career.

While working at the Goldman Sachs Ayco office in Cohoes, Rosales kept thinking about the sport he had given up six years earlier.

“I spent my days at Goldman talking basketball, watching basketball,” she said. “I think I just got to a place where I wasn’t as involved in taking care of this financial thing anymore and I just really felt like I needed to be around the sport full-time.”

After linking up with Siena women’s basketball coach Jim Jabir in early October, Rosales is back in the game as an assistant coach for the Saints.

“It was really fateful because she just dropped me an email,” Jabir said. “She didn’t even know we had an open position. And I did my homework, called people and found out who she was. When I spoke to her, I knew right away that she was going to be great. She was better than that.

Rosales filled the vacancy left by assistant Naima Abdullah, who left the program in early September. Sienna is also without assistant Heather Stack, who is on maternity leave.

“I feel extremely at home,” Rosales said. “I’m definitely still learning a lot and there’s a lot to learn, but the team’s motto is ‘family’ and it’s very true to that. I felt welcome from the moment I stepped foot on campus. The girls are amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better boss in Jim and to learn from him and Terry (Primm, the other assistant) as well.”

At Colonie High, Rosales helped lead the Garnet Raiders to a Class AA sectional title as a junior. As a senior in 2013, she averaged 16.2 points per game and was named a Times Union first-team all-large-school all-star.

She signed to play for head coach Brian Giorgis’ dynasty at Marist. Then her body betrayed her.

Rosales had back surgeries during his senior year of high school and his freshman year of college. She tore her Achilles tendon. She had leg surgery and injured the meniscus and ACL in her knee. She had shoulder surgery and had another Achilles surgery after college.

“Every bond that you can break was broken in my body,” Rosales said.

She played 21 games in four years at Marist and missed her freshman and junior seasons. When it was all over, she decided to quit basketball.

“Just mentally going through it and being a college student, it was just a lot going on,” Rosales said. “When I got out of school it was almost like what’s next and what can I get into that won’t send me over the edge.”

She said she never lost her love for the sport. Rosales, whose birthday is March 1, said this is her favorite month because of March Madness and the NCAA tournament. About a year and a half ago, she started getting back into college basketball. It wasn’t easy.

“It’s not, especially being gone for six years and coming from an investment bank, it’s like, ‘Who is this guy?’ Rosales said. “But I just occasionally emailed and contacted people, letting them know my story and what my aspirations were. I ended up emailing Jim on Friday morning and got a call an hour later.’

Rosales, a Loudonville native who lives five minutes from the Siena campus, visited two days later and met with Jabir and the players. Her first day of work was on October 16, less than a month before the opening.

The career change came with a pay cut. Rosales said she had family members and colleagues at Goldman Sachs who told her she was crazy.

“I didn’t care what the layoff was,” she said. “Everybody that knows me has been super excited and happy for me because they know that’s what I’m meant to be in and I wanted in after all.”

Playing catch-up after six years, Rosales constantly watches game film on his laptop. She starts making recruiting contacts. She said she used what she learned from Giorgis at Marist while she was injured.

“She’s a natural,” Jabir said. “She wanted to do this, so it’s like a fish to water. She is awesome.”