Jennifer Fleischer
by Scott Granowitz
April, 2004--Is the term student-athlete a misnomer? Given all the recent scandals in big-time college sports, one would certainly have reason to think so. Of course there are several exceptions to the current trend. But many of those exceptions go unreported due to their lack of sensationalism.
Jennifer Fleischer, a star 6-3 center for the University of Pennsylvania basketball team, is one of many Ivy Leaguers that break that trend while striving for excellence in both academics and sports.
Penn represented a perfect mix between academics and athletics," said Fleischer, a sophomore. "I wanted to play Division 1 basketball."
2003-04 was a breakout season in
more ways than one for the New Hartford, NY native. After averaging just eight
minutes a game last season, she became a full-time starter and one of the best
per-minute rebounders in the country based on her 9.6-rebound and 22.9-minute
game average. The low 20-minute average was due to a stress fracture in her
right leg that she heroically battled much of the year after it was diagnosed
in late January.
And even more impressive for Fleischer, who averaged 8.8 points with 37 blocks on the season, was the fact that she practiced little after the injury.
I would practice every few days for an hour," said Fleischer, who looks forward to walking normally in 3-5 weeks after hobbling around on crutches most of the time. "When this happened it was far enough in the season to know the plays," she explained. "It was mostly difficult because I felt rusty in the beginning of games."
It was shortly after her injury that Penn established itself at the top of the Ivy standings. In a key weekend slate at Harvard and Dartmouth, the Quakers swept the games by out-hustling their favored opponents. Fleischer’s defense and 20 rebounds against Harvard and Dartmouth stars Reka Cserny and Elise Morrison (two of the better centers on the east coast) were instrumental in the victories.
One would think that garnering 2nd Team All-Ivy honors and an Ivy League Championship over favored Harvard would cap off Fleischer’s stellar season, but for those college sports purists there’s another story to be told. In the Ivy League, rules require teams to work around the academic schedule. And that also goes for bioengineering majors like Fleischer with weekly 6-hour labs.
My teammates have been wonderful and supportive," she said about how the team has accommodated her unusual class schedule by having practices on one night at 8 p.m. and the next morning at 6 a.m. "The situation actually works out good because it allows my teammates to take a special 3-6 p.m. class during the week that they otherwise could not."
And it was this accommodation that sold Fleischer on Penn after receiving several major Division 1 scholarship offers.
One of the deciding factors in coming here was that head coach Kelly Greenberg said the team will work around your schedule regardless of what your major is," said Fleischer. "We play most of our games on Friday and Saturdays with the Ivy League schedule, so if we miss a class, most of the time it is on a Friday afternoon."
With her smarts and aggressive rebounding, Mel Greenberg, a longtime women’s basketball writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, likes to describe Fleischer as a clone of former Detroit Piston great Bill Laimbeer.
Rebounding has a lot to do with hustle and going after it," she says. "What separates the great from the good is the desire to go after the ball."
College basketball buffs, especially those who are Jewish, are intrigued to learn that Jennifer is the daughter of former Duke great Bob Fleischer. He was an All-ACC performer in the mid 70’s and then had a distinguished professional career for Hapoel Tel-Aviv and European power Maccabi Tel-Aviv. These days he is a practicing urologist.
I would definitely have an interest in playing in Israel," said the Penn student about the possibility of following in her father’s footsteps. "My father told me that the years he played in Israel were some of the best of his life."
Surprisingly, it was actually her mother Jo-Ann that really got her started on the hardwood.
She told me I was going to be tall and encouraged me to play," said Fleischer, who didn’t start playing seriously until 8th grade after participating in a multitude of sports.
Like a lot of Jewish athletes, the high holidays can present challenges and decisions to be made. Since they occur in the college basketball pre-season, Fleischer has lucked out.
The coaches have been supportive," said Fleischer. "In the beginning when I needed to miss a practice due to Yom Kippur I was a little hesitant to ask, but once I asked it wasn’t such a big deal. We now have two other Jewish players on the team [sophomore Jenna Markoff and freshman Jessica Hosenbold] so I’m comfortable about it."
Winning the Ivy League gave Penn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They played perennial Final 4 participant UConn in the 1st round in front of a packed house of 9000 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. Fleischer grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 4 points while her team was routed, but the experience was well worth it for the 17-11 Quakers.
It was very exciting," said Fleischer. "It’s always been one of my dreams and that of my teammates to play in front of a packed house, even though only 300 of the fans were rooting for Penn."
What’s next? Another unexpected Ivy League championship even though league player of the year and teammate Jewel Clark graduates in May?
Some people say we have no chance to win the Ivy again," said Fleischer, who looks forward to a healthy 2004-05 campaign. "But we have to prove them wrong… If you go into anything thinking you will lose then you will have no chance"
Spoken like a true student-athlete...
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