Some 17-year-old girls would find being compared to a boy a bit disheartening. But Mt. Assisi basketball coach Tom Kassanitz insists it`s one of the highest compliments he can pay Jenny Sullivan.
”Jenny`s a beautiful young lady, but when she`s on the court she reminds me of a guy,” he said. ”Her stamina, intensity and toughness separate her from just about everyone else out there.”
”I`m glad he explained what he meant by that comment,” Sullivan said with a smile. ”I owe all the progress I`ve made to Coach. He`s the one who`s invested all the extra time to help me.”
It`s an investment that has reaped benefits for both parties.
Sullivan is averaging an area-leading 29.2 points per game. Mt. Assisi, meanwhile, got off to a 3-1 start before going into an injury-abetted tailspin.
”People look at our current 3-6 record and assume we`ve struggled all along,” Kassanitz said. ”But for the last seven games, we`ve had two starters out with injuries. With Jenny and no injuries, we would be well on our way.”
”I`ve played basketball since the 4th grade and personally it`s never been this good,” Sullivan said. ”Having people pay this much attention to me is quite flattering.”
The 5-foot-9-inch senior has certainly grabbed the attention of opposing coaches, who are resorting to all sort of gimmick defenses to stop her.
”She`ll kill you if you just let her roam around,” said Mother McAuley coach Diane Darrah. ”She`s one of the best pure shooters I`ve ever seen on the high school level.”
Darrow`s top-ranked Mighty Macs beat Assisi recently, but not before they had to go to a box-and-one defense to slow down Sullivan, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
Kassanitz questions just how long even those sort of defenses will work.
”Jenny`s a lot like Jamie Brandon on the floor,” he said, referring to the former King star now at LSU. ”Most players take what the defense gives them but those two are able to take what they want.”
A solid education is something else Sullivan seems to want.
She ranks fourth in her class of 110 (a 4.21 grade-point average), scored 27 on the ACT and will be a premed student in college. She`s narrowed her college choice to Illinois and Loyola.
”My lifelong dream has been to be a doctor, and that won`t take a back seat to anything,” she said. ”Each day I try to make a little more progress toward that end.”
Steady progression, that`s how her basketball career also might be described. As a sophomore, she played varsity and averaged 12 points a game. The next year, that increased to 22.
”I feel myself getting better, but I still have a lot of improving to do,” she said.
Actually, not as much as she seems to think, according to Kassanitz:
”I`m looking for Jenny to have an immediate impact on the collegiate level and in four years be polished enough to make a serious bid for the Olympic team.”
”That would be a lot,” Sullivan said. ”But I`m honored that Coach thinks that highly of me. He`s a bit boyish when it comes to me,” she smiled.
