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| Jeanette holds the trophy after Stanford won the Pac-10 championship in 2011. (Deb Gumbley) |
In some ways, Jeanette Pohlen is a Swiss army knife
for the Stanford women’s basketball program.
Serving in the relatively new position of director
of player development, she’s a “liaison between the program, the athletic
department and the campus,” she said in a recent phone interview. If someone
wants players’ involvement outside of basketball activities, they see her.
She helps with the outreach to program alums and
overall takes a load off the coaches. She sits in on their meetings, helps with
ordering gear and assists director of basketball operations Eileen Roche in
planning summer camps. Recently she’s added another item to her resume,
providing insight during radio broadcasts of games.
In her relationship with the coaches, “I feel like
they value my opinion.” In the meantime, “I listen. I try to learn. It’s been
special to be on the other side of things, not as a player.” She’s also
grateful to be working with head coach Tara VanDerveer.
Four
Final Fours for Jeanette
Jeanette graduated from Stanford in 2011, when she
was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and amassed an impressive history,
including four consecutive Final Fours.
After graduating, she was drafted by the Indiana
Fever and played there and in Turkey before retiring in 2018. During her pro
years, she dealt with two major injuries to her ACL and Achilles.
She was married to Julian Mavunga, also a basketball
player, for just over four years and lived in Japan off and for five years.
While there she taught English and ran basketball clinics. She still has
friends there. After her marriage ended, she returned home to Orange County.
Because “I always had an itch to coach,” she reached
out to Tara and associate head coach Kate Paye about how to prepare. That’s
when Tara invited her to be a coaching intern.
She jumped at the chance “to learn from the
greatest.” It also was “a good place to start over. I learned a lot.” She was a
coaching intern with the team in the ’21-‘22 season before moving into her
present post last season.
Would she like to become a coach some day? “I’m not
ruling it out,” she said, noting that some of her teammates like Lindy La Rocque
and Joslyn Tinkle are in the coaching ranks. So is one of her new colleagues,
assistant coach Erica “Bird” McCall, who was her Indiana Fever teammate for a
year.
Favorite
times include playing with Candice
Looking back at her four years in a Cardinal
uniform, she cited some favorite times, including playing with Candice Wiggins,
’08, and going to her first Final Four, which was in Tampa. “We saw what it
took to get there.” Her next three Final Fours were in St. Louis, San Antonio
and Indianapolis. “All of our Final
Fours were special,” she said.
Then there’s the moment that lives forever in
Stanford women’s basketball history: the 4.4-second run to score the winning
basket against Xavier in 2010 at the NCAA regional in Sacramento.
With the score tied 53-53 and mere seconds to go,
Xavier missed two easy shots. Jeanette’s classmate, Kayla Pedersen, rebounded
the second miss and immediately called a time out. She inbounded the ball to
Jeanette under the Xavier basket with just 4.4 seconds to go. Jeanette sped
down the floor and made the winning basket just in time.
If she hadn’t, the game would have gone into
overtime. Instead she was swamped by her joyful teammates. On the bus taking
fans home after the game, someone yelled, “Pohlen for governor.”
Jeanette addresses the Maples crowd after the team ended UConn's streak. (AP photo)
Team
ended UConn’s record streak
Beating UConn 71-59 at Maples on Dec. 30, 2010,
during her senior season and ending its record 90-game winning streak is
another of her favorite memories. Fans who were there vividly recall that
Jeanette threw the ball straight upward at the final buzzer.
Fans may also recall that she had a pet turtle,
Rocky. She still does. He’s staying with one of her brothers in Southern
California.
“I had a great four years” at Stanford, she said.
She considers her teammates sisters and best friends.
Since returning to Stanford, Jeanette has lost her
mother, Cindy, who died in April after a recurrence of breast cancer. Hence,
Jeanette spent time with her during that final illness.
Speaking of this year’s team she said, “This group
is focused. They’re still learning.” They care for one another. “I’m really
proud of this group.”
As for her job, “I really enjoy it. It makes my days fun,” she said. After her four collegiate years, “I love being back at Stanford.”
