Jennings? Proven Advice for NCAA-Bound Huskers

Jennings First NU Women's Basketball Hall of Famer

Next Career for Jennings: Motivational Speaking

Randy York’s N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Talk about timing. The day before the Nebraska women’s basketball team flies to Columbia, South Carolina, to play in the NCAA Tournament, Karen Jennings becomes her sport’s first inductee into the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame. She is, without debate, the Huskers’ preeminent player of all-time, and we have four major facts that prove our point: 1) In 1993, Jennings received the Margaret Wade Trophy, presented annually to the nation’s best women’s basketball player; 2)  She was the CoSIDA Women’s Basketball Academic All-American of the Year that same season; 3) She is one of only four student-athletes in the history of Nebraska Athletics, male or female, to be a three-time, first-team Academic All-America honoree; and 4) With 2,405 points, Jennings is the all-time leading scorer in the history of Nebraska women’s basketball.

That’s enough of Jennings’ incredible accolades. Like every true Husker fan, she’s more interested this week in how Nebraska does in the NCAA Tournament than the resume she built before becoming one of the absolute top realtors in Omaha and a member of the inaugural class of 22 Husker student-athletes who will be enshrined next September in the Hall of Fame. Tuesday, Jennings told me she “would never, ever” dream or envision being Nebraska’s first Hall of Fame inductee. “I just really wanted to play college basketball,” she said. “I love the game. My dad always said: ‘Karen, don’t ever worry about the points. Don’t ever worry about the rebounds. Just go out and play hard and let the chips fall where they may. The cream will come to the top.’”

Well, guess what? Karen Jennings never did worry and good things always happened. “That’s the way I played, and that’s what Karen Jennings is really all about,” she said. “It’s the same way I attack my business. I don’t worry about sales. I don’t worry about my clients. I just go hard every day, do it right, and good things happen.”

The Four Cardinal Rules of One Husker’s College Playing Career

The power of positive thinking on a phone line triggers a question I can hardly wait to ask: “How does what worked for you apply to your alma mater now, and what kind of advice would you give Connie Yori's team as they take on Syracuse, a higher seed, with the winner advancing to the second round, most likely to play No. 1 seed South Carolina?”

There is exactly one second of silence before Jennings answers my double-barreled question. “Be quick but don’t hurry, adjust to the officiating, take command of the game, and have fun,” she said. I ask Jennings (flanked by her parents above) the genesis of her four points of wisdom. “Be quick, but don’t hurry is John Wooden’s No. 1 quote,” she said, recognizing the greatest coach in college basketball history. “I lived by that quote. I always tried to be quick, but never hurry.”

“What about the other three pieces of advice?” I ask Jennings.

“Those all came from my dad,” she said. “He called me and told me the same four things for every single game I played at Nebraska. He said all four things over and over and over again, and I lived by all four every time I stepped on the court. They’re simple things, but I took every one of them to heart. They worked for me.”

Jennings: Wife, Mother, Businesswoman, Coach, Hall of Famer

Jennings (above) enjoys a robust laugh. I can’t see her, but she’s enjoying the conversation. As busy as she is as a wife, a mother, and a top-selling businesswoman, she still follows her alma mater and watches the Huskers every time possible. She’ll be watching Friday night’s game when No. 8-seeded Syracuse plays her No. 9-seeded alma mater. Suddenly, an idea strikes Jennings, and she's comfortable sharing it. “I’m thinking Friday night’s game would make a good watch party,” she said. “It may be time to herd up the fifty-oners and watch the game together.”

Fifty-oners is a team of fourth-grade Omaha girls coached by Jennings, whose retired No. 51 jersey is hanging inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Husker home she describes in one enthusiastic word...Spectacular!  Jennings plans to "herd up" eight fourth-graders, including daughter Claire, to watch Friday night's NCAA first-round matchup at the coach's house.

Something tells me that before halftime, those fourth-grade girls will learn something new, like be quick but don’t hurry, adjust to the officiating, take command of the game, and have fun.

Maybe the same rock-solid advice can benefit four Husker seniors – Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear'a Laudermill, and Hailie Sample, plus their freshman guard, Natalie Romeo. One thing is certain. All five Huskers will do anything and everything possible to go above and beyond where they’ve already been.

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