Sept. 20, 2001
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University women's basketball head coach Chris Denker announced the hiring of former California standout Jennie Leander as a third assistant to his coaching staff.
Leander will work with second-year assistant Jeff Dow in coaching the post players. She will also handle team equipment and travel while carrying a large responsibility in coordinating program summer camps and other fundraising activities.
"We're excited to have Jennie join our staff," Denker said. "We recruited her a few years ago as a player, so she joined us already knowing our program and she was anxious to get started. Additionally, she has a working knowledge of the Bay Area and has served in such a variety of capacities in athletic departments that is going to help her in her roll on our staff."
Leander joined Santa Clara in September after playing professionally with the DKSK team in Miskolc, Hungary. She was the team's starting forward during this past spring season, and averaged 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. While playing, Leander also worked as a program manager for The Hoop Athletic Club in Vancouver, Wash., where she organized and marketed all facility programs, including basketball leagues, tournaments, dances, parties and corporate events.
"I'm looking forward to working with a program that has such a strong winning tradition," Leander said.
As a player, Leander was a four-year starter and three-year captain for the Bears. A two time first team Pac-10 All-Academic honoree, she started 106 of 109 contests in her career and is among Cal's all-time leaders in several categories, including seventh in career rebounds (790) and 10th in career scoring (1,144), field goal percentage (.484) and blocks (52).
After exhausting her eligibility, Leander remained on the Berkeley campus and worked in the University's Student Learning Center, where she supervised student-athletes, implemented a five-part lecture series on the school and helped coordinate fall orientation programs for incoming student-athletes.
A native of Tigard, Ore., Leander began her coaching career at Mills College in Oakland during the 1999-2000 season. While there, she was responsible for coordinating and devising team conditioning workouts, scouting reports and recruiting, while also working with the team's post players. At the same time, Leander was completing her degree at Cal while working in her soon-to-be alma mater's athletic media relations office.
Leander graduated from California in 2000 with a degree in mass communications and began working on a master's this fall in Santa Clara's Counseling, Psychology and Education degree program.