Jennifer Gillom played her high school basketball at Lafayette County High school, scoring 3,006 career points. She won Mississippi High School Player of the Year before heading to college to play for the Unversity of Mississippi.
College
In four years at Ole Miss, Gillion scored 2,186 points and averaged 17.3 points per game. She also grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 52% from the field. Gillion scored 23.3 points per game in her senior season as she helped the Rebels get to the Elite Eight.
While at Mississippi, Gillom made the All-SEC Team three times, led the SEC in scoring, and won SEC Female Athlete of the Year in 1986. She had an outstanding college career.
USA Basketball
Gillom played for the USA World University Games team in Kobe, Japan, in 1985. The team brought home a silver medal after falling to the USSR. Gillom was the second-leading scorer for the USA team, with 12.8 points per game.
The following year, Gillom played for the USA team at the World Championships in Moscow. The USA team would meet the USSR in the title game and emerge victorious, winning the gold medal with a 108–88 score. Again, Gillom averaged 2.8 points per game.
Gillom was named to the US team at the 1987 Pan American Games. The USA team won all four games, winning the gold medal. She averaged 9.5 points per game. Gillom continued with the national team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, held in September. Again, the team won all five games, which resulted in the gold medal. Again, Gillom averaged 2.8 points per game.
Professional Basketball
From 1988 to 2004, Gillom played in the Italian Professional Basketball League. In 1994 and 1995, she won the League MVP and was the scoring leader.
In 1997, Gillom joined the WNBA and played for the Phoenix Mercury. She averaged 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in her first season. Gillom’s second season was her best, she helped the Mercury reach the WNBA Finals, but they lost to the Houston Comets.
Gillom averaged a career-high 20.8 points and 7.3 points per game in the 1998 season. She played six seasons for Phoenix before moving on to the Los Angeles Sparks in her last season.
In her seven-year WNBA career, Gillom averaged 13.4 points on 42% shooting from the field. She also averaged 4.5 rebounds per game. Gillom was a good scorer in the low post and could hit shots from the outside, making it hard to stop her. She was also strong on the boards.
Gillom made the WNBA All-Star team once and two All-WNBA Teams.
Coaching
In 2008 Gillom was an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx before becoming the head coach in 2009; after that, she coached the Sparks and was let ten games into her second season. In 2012 Gillom joined the Washington Mystics coaching staff for one season, then became an assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun from 2013 to 2015. Gillom’s career coaching record was 31-47, with one playoff appearance.
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