It's hard to let go of Jillian

Jillian will be playing professional basketball next season in Italy for Comense, the same team as Brooke. Warren Grimes, devoted Cardinal fan, is having trouble letting go of Jillian. He writes:

As Summer wears on and we look to the Fall recruiting results and the forthcoming season, I’m having trouble letting go. The player involved – and you can guess – has to be one of the most tenacious, the most relentless, to ever wear the Stanford uniform. No, Jillian Harmon wasn’t the fastest, wasn’t the best shooter, wasn’t the best rebounder, wasn’t the best ball handler . . . but the truth is, she was damn good at all those things. Excellent in fact. Harmon was fast enough to steal the ball from an opposing guard and get down the court and score the lay up with consistent success. She did that against San Diego’s quick guards, and she did it again against Ohio State’s talented back court players. Those were spirit-breaking plays for Stanford opponents. Harmon was doing that sort of thing in virtually every game she played over the past four seasons, and she played in almost all of them.

Last year, Harmon led the team in steals, had the third highest minutes per game, was third in assists, was 4th in blocks, 4th in rebounds, and 5th in points. She brought the ball up court many times, effectively serving as a relief point guard, yet she could play the power forward position when needed (that wasn’t needed much this last year). She was a very good defender, often drawing the opponent’s most prolific point scorer as her assignment. Is there anything Harmon couldn’t do? Well, she didn’t dunk, but no one else on the team did either. Her free throw shooting was not stellar, but even that improved to the point that the coaches wanted her in the game in the last minutes.

None of these stats really tell the story on Harmon. I’ll go back to my words relentless and tenacious. If you want to see how Harmon made a difference, think back to the semi-final victory over U Conn two years ago. Harmon was a defensive star that night, stealing the ball and getting some key rebounds. In this year’s tournament, she was a difference maker in the Ohio State game, which, in case you have forgotten, was a close game until the last two minutes. Harmon scored eight or so of the team’s points in the last two minutes to help make the game look like an easy win, but even more impressive were her steals and clutch shots when the game really was in the balance. Harmon was there all the time, giving her best, which was really very good indeed. Was there ever a game that you watched in which Harmon wasn’t giving her best? I don’t think so.

So I hope Jillian does well in Italy, in New Zealand, or wherever she ends up playing more basketball. Her fundamentals should make any team very glad to have her.

Here is a gallery of photos of Jillian throughout her Stanford career.