Jessica Gelman

Jessica Gelman:

A Jewish Role Model On and Off the Court
by Eliot Schickler

Jessica Gelman has been a basketball phenomenon on two continents -- from the Ivy walls of Harvard University to Ramat HaSharon in Israel. Before retiring at the end of this past season, Gelman had a successful career on the court as a point guard and off the court as a role model.

Gelman, Class of 1997, finished her career at Harvard as the all-time career leader in assists in school history (485, 4.6 assists per game). Last year, as a senior, she tied the season best mark of 152 (5.6 apg), set by Heidi Kosh in 1988-89.

"I enjoy having the opportunity to call plays," says Gelman. "One of my strengths as a point guard is having a sense of when to fast break and when to slow it down and call a play. I also like dictating the pace of a game, especially at the college level where the point guard is a vital position."

Last year was the best year of her career. The 5-foot-8-inch Gelman was the second leading scorer for the Crimson with 351 points, averaging 13.0 points per game, 92 rebounds (3.4), and 54 steals (2.0). She shot 39.5 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the foul line. For her success, she was selected as a first team Ivy League All-Star.

"It's nice to be recognized, but winning the league is more important and these honors are icing on the cake," says Gelman, referring to leading the Crimson to the Ivy League title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tournament in her last two years at Harvard.

Gelman enjoys being a leader and role model for the people around her. As co-captain and point guard during her senior year, she helped lead Harvard to its second straight Ivy League title (20-6), and the first ever undefeated season in Ivy League play (14-0) for any team. In her junior year, she was a second team Ivy League All-Star.

Overall, Gelman finished her career with 1,045 career points (9.9 per game), 390 rebounds (3.7), and 190 steals (1.8). Her career shooting percentages is 39.6 from the field and 73.1 from the foul line.

Gelman also made her presence felt on defense, She usually guarded and contained the best guard on the opposing team.

Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith was pleased with the four years Gelman gave her.

"I think Jessica has done a great job as captain and has experienced tremendous growth," says Delaney-Smith. "She has contributed greatly on and off the floor, and she's a total player."

This past Fall, Gelman reached her zenith on the court. She played for Ramat HaSharon in Israel's women's professional basketball league.

"Being over in Israel was a great experience," recalls Gelman. "Israeli basketball is different than American basketball."

Based on her experience, she feels that the primary focus in Israeli basketball is offense, shooting the ball, playing as individuals, and is not team oriented. According to her perception, this is in sharp contrast to American basketball, especially the Harvard program she played on for four years.

Other differences she sees between Israeli and American basketball is that the courts are better maintained in America and home teams enjoy a better home court advantage in Israel. Gelman estimates the home court advantage to be worth 10 points in Israel.

Even though she preferred the American way of basketball, she saw some positive aspects playing for Ramat HaSharon.

"The benefit of playing professionally overseas is that you can dedicate yourself to playing all day," says Gelman.

Last summer, she tried out with 300 other women for the final two spots on the New York Liberty roster and made it to the final cut. The Liberty finished as the runner-up in the WNBA last summer.

Some might think that her experience in Israel should lead to a job in either the WNBA or the ABL. However, Gelman is not planning on a professional basketball career in America. She will start working with Mitchell Madison Group in New York City in July and is studying to take the GMAT in March.

"I had a great career at Harvard and overseas," recalls Gelman. "I learned a lot about myself and had wonderful experiences, but it's time to move on. There are other ways to stay in the game."

Gelman, a resident of Westport, Connecticut, plans on running a basketball camp for girls during Connecticut's February vacation week (Feb. 23-27), and depending on the responses, she hopes to run a camp during the summer.

"Basketball has been a wonderful experience and taught me how to lead a better life," says Gelman. "If I take the time to help the girls love the game and gain self-confidence, it'll make them a better member of society."

Even with her success, Gelman has not forgotten her roots.

She will be speaking (in English) to different congregations in Connecticut about her experiences in Israel. She'll talk a little about her experience playing basketball, but will mostly speak about her off the court experience in Israel.

The possibility of a coaching career is not in her plans for the immediate future. Once Gelman establishes herself career wise and settles down by having a family, she will begin utilizing a clipboard with X's and O's at the high school level.

When she takes over a high school program, she would be a excellent coach. Gelman had a successful run as coach at the Maccabi games in Cleveland during the Summer of 1995. She directed a girls basketball team, age 13-15 to a fourth place in a 16 team league. She says she coached at the Maccabi games because she wants young Jewish women to know that anything is possible.

"In all honesty, I never thought about myself as a Jewish athlete until I went to Harvard because where I'm from (Westport, CT) has a large Jewish population," recalls Gelman. "When I started to go to Harvard, it was pointed out to me that only one other girl on the team is Jewish and that there weren't many Division I Jewish female athletes, especially basketball players. I enjoy being a role model for young Jewish girls and I want them to know that female Jewish athletes can succeed in Division I basketball."

If Jewish girls follow Gelman's lead, they can be a success story as well.