Three years ago, April Jean — then a basketball prep star in Sacramento, Calif. — signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia. It appeared that the Syracuse women’s basketball team had missed its chance to land the forward.

Lucky for the Orangewomen, Jean’s equation balancing wasn’t up to par with her ball handling.

In her senior year of high school, Jean failed chemistry, bringing her GPA under the NCAA Clearinghouse standard. She would have to sit out a year or go to junior college.

The grade led to a chain of events that landed Jean at Syracuse, where she has made immediate impact, averaging 11.6 points and six rebounds for the 1-4 Orangewomen this season. After coming off the bench in the season opener at Siena, Jean cemented herself in the starting lineup. When she takes the floor tonight at St. Bonaventure (3-2), it will be her fifth start in six games.

Jean’s odyssey began when she waved goodbye to the Bulldogs and decided to play at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. She made the 1,800-mile trek from sunshine to the heartland because the quality of junior-college basketball in Kansas is superior to that in California.

‘Kansas junior-college women’s basketball, with Texas, is by far and away in the best in the country,’ said Craig Brookover, Jean’s coach at Coffeyville. ‘The women’s basketball at California junior colleges isn’t very good. The best California kids are wanting to get out of there.’

‘All jucos are basically the same,’ Jean said. ‘When I went (to Coffeyville), I liked the coaches, I liked the teammates and I liked what they were talking about. That was what made my decision.’

Jean only intended to stay a year at Coffeyville, but became ensconced in the program. She stayed a second year, and Syracuse entered the equation.

Syracuse coach Marianna Freeman credited uncovering Jean to her former assistant and recruiting coordinator, Michelle Bento. After watching tape and reading Bento’s notes, Freeman was immediately smitten with Jean’s versatility — a trait the coach greatly values.

Syracuse first recruited Jean out of Coffeyville and, when Jean visited the Hill during last Winter Break, she made up her mind.

‘I think it was a good decision,’ Jean said. ‘I’m very happy I ended up here.’

She’s even happier with her rapid ascension to the starting five.

‘I thought it was going to be a slow process,’ Jean said. ‘I was really excited when (Freeman) actually put me in the starting lineup.’

Jean was inserted at power forward, despite being undersized (5 feet, 10 inches) for the position. What she lacks in size, she makes up for in quickness and toughness. She’s second on the Orangewomen in rebounds.

Jean does more than play in the post. She is a dribbling, shooting Swiss army knife who comfortably spots up from the three-point line and has the handle of a guard.

‘A lot of people might think she’s too small to be a post player and not quick enough to be a guard,” St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley said. “But she can do it off the dribble, she can post up big and she gets big rebounds. She can be quite dangerous because she can score in a bunch of different ways.’

Although Jean made the transition from juco to Division I look easy with her hot start, it wasn’t.

‘It was tough at first conditioning-wise,’ Jean said. ‘We really didn’t do anything in juco. Being out here made me mentally tough. I think I’ve grown up a lot.’

‘She came in kind of out of shape,’ said center Maja Omanovic, who came from New Mexico Junior College last season. ‘She worked really hard and got in shape. She improved a lot.’

Freeman’s torturous practices didn’t dampen Jean’s confidence. She’s modest, yet self-assured, and has no qualms about facing the various All-Americans she’ll see this year.

‘I feel like I could play the same caliber as them,’ Jean said. ‘I just haven’t made a name for myself yet.’

Flunking chemistry may have been a blessing in disguise for Jean. She loves the people around her at SU. And Freeman gives Jean’s flexible game an optimal chance to develop.

‘Her versatility is what makes her truly special,’ Freeman said. ‘April Jean is very capable of being one of the players of notice in our conference.’

Published on December 4, 2002 at 12:00 pm