42nd Hall of Fame Induction - Graber Associates

AMBER JACOBS ’04Basketball2010 INDUCTEESound bites and highlights. Next time youare talking about your all-time favorite athlete,watch how the conversation goes. Firstyou’ll speak of the signature play or momentthat won or lost the game. Then you’ll talkabout the play’s impact on the contest.Finally you’ll get around to everything elseabout that athlete – all those things, big andsmall, that made him or her so special.The sound bites of the Amber Jacobs storycome straight from the archives of ESPN.Two consecutive buzzer-beaters to defeat OldDominion 73-72 and Vanderbilt 86-85 in theNCAA Tournament of 2003. Her late bucketin the 73-70 UConn Big East tourney game of2004, BC’s first win over the Storrs crowd in12 games. The final episode is the last BCvictory of Amber’s career, a 63-48 dismantlingof Ohio State before a roaring, hostilecrowd in the 2004 NCAAs.Jacobs actually turned the ball over eighttimes in that game. But in the words ofBuckeye coach Jim Foster, “Amber Jacobs, ina night that could have been very very frustratingeight turnovers, never lost sight ofthe composure to run the offense and executethe offense.”That observation by Foster widens the lensof memory and captures the essence ofAmber Jacobs. She deflected talk about herselfin the locker room and insisted that theteam, a mature, poised outfit that finished27-7, get the accolades. That was typical. Asher coach, Cathy Inglese, comments,“She was not only an outstanding player, butshe was so team-oriented. It wasn’t all aboutAmber.”Jacobs was not big, fast, or agile, but she hadan indefinable something that allowed her tosucceed in big-time college basketball andmove on to professional ball. She also hadthe motivation to work relentlessly to overcomelimitations.Jacobs explained, “One of the reasons I likedcoach Inglese was that she reminded me ofgrowing up under my dad. She made surethat our team was going to outwork ouropponent. And she was very fundamentalsbased,with those little details that someother people might not coach.“Footwork was huge. I don’t think I understoodhow important it was until I got to college.We started every practice with drills onfootwork.”Jacobs played soccer and basketball atAbington Heights High School in tiny Clark’sSummit, Pennsylvania, and got wider exposurein three years with the PhiladelphiaBelles of the AAU.“I grew up handling the ball and running theteam,” she says. She says her parents Dawnand Roger insisted she work hard at thesport, but “never took the love out of it.”It was a long leap from Clark’s Summit toChestnut Hill. Inglese had scouted her inAAU ball and was further impressed in thepersonal interview.“She wanted the ball in her hands. She wentout there and enjoyed herself. She wanted toplay for a program that was more intensethan her high school. And her thoughtprocess matched exactly what I wanted,especially in a guard,” recalled the coach.The adjustment to big-city Boston was difficult.Even though she loved to direct basketballgames, Amber was a shy kid. She didn’thave time to learn as a varsity understudy,but started at point guard right awayafter Brianne Stepherson injured an ACL.The rebuilding team posted a losing recordfor the first time in five seasons. Jacobsaveraged twice as many turnovers as assistsper game, a ratio that she reversed by thetime she was a senior.“I was not very outgoing, and having to trustin my teammates and rely on them and openup to them in ways that were difficult forme, really grew me and helped me grow upand be more vocal,” she stated.Inglese said, “Sometimes in time outs I’d askher what she saw, what’s going on, what doyou suggest. She had great communicationsskills when she was a junior and senior.Many things I took from her made me a bettercoach.”In Amber’s sophomore season the team went23-8, losing the Big East Final toConnecticut and to Mississippi State in thefirst round of the NCAAs. Jacobs startedevery contest and led the team in scoringwith 11.9 points per game.Her junior year was another good one, withthree seniors to lead the team to a 22-9slate. Connecticut again ended the Eagleseason in the 2003 NCAA Sweet Sixteenround after Jacobs’ heroics against OldDominion and Vanderbilt.“That senior year team was special. We allbelieved in each other, we fought for eachother. The 2004 Big East Championship wasmy favorite highlight in all of college, winningfour games in four nights and beatingUConn on their home floor, and then goingon to beat Ohio State and get to the NCAASweet 16.”After BC bowed out of the NCAAs Amberwas invited to the men’s Final Four and wonthe women’s three-point contest. She wasEagle of the Year that season, and she rankshigh in several career statistical categories:sixth in scoring and assists, seventh insteals, and third in three pointers made.“I loved playing basketball and I wanted togive back by coaching,” she says, but gettingdrafted by the WNBA put those plans onhold. She played four years with Minnesotaand one with Washington nd L.A. beforeknee injuries ended her playing days.Jacobs had studied in the Lynch School ofEducation at BC. After assisting Inglese for ayear at URI, she was named head women’scoach at Baptist Bible College in Clark’sSummit. Her grandfather, Dr. ErnestPickering, was its president back in the1970s, and her father coached men’s soccerthere for 17 years.When she was introduced to the school communityshe stated “My goal is to build relationshipswith the girls and share with themmy experiences and knowledge of the game.And hopefully impact their lives with eachother, while learning more about God, whileglorifying him.”21