George Washington University Athletics
Taking the Lead
11/18/2020 12:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Jasmine Whitney's leadership makes a difference for women's basketball
Last winter, Jasmine Whitney – maybe for the first time since she joined a local house league at age 6 – found herself a point guard without a team.
After three years leading Pittsburgh as one of the top floor generals in the ACC, the Centreville, Va., native was finishing up work on her Administration of Justice degree and searching for a home to finish up her collegiate career on the hardwood.
For Whitney, it was a strange time without the usual rhythms of the season and the camaraderie of the locker room. She came to relish any sense of normal, and as her recruitment heated up, she found it talking hoops with Jennifer Rizzotti.
From their first chat, Whitney knew she’d discovered a kindred spirit in the Hall of Fame point guard-turned-veteran coach.
“I could just really feel her passion and love for the game through the phone,” Whitney said. “It got me excited. After every conversation, I just had this smile on my face.”
Whitney, of course, joined GW women’s basketball as a graduate transfer last January, eager to get to work under Rizzotti.
Throughout an unprecedented 2020, Whitney has navigated the challenges to put her leadership into action with the Colonials.
On Zoom calls and group texts, she provided a perfect blend of focused maturity and spirited enthusiasm, and since the squad reunited in August, she’s continued to make a difference on and off the floor.
It was by unanimous vote that Whitney was selected as one of the squad’s three captains for this season. Now, she’s eager to showcase her impact on the Buff and Blue to a wider audience as she prepares for her first game action since March 2019.
“It’s been great to have Jasmine here,” said fellow captain Neila Luma. “She’s been our biggest energy-giver. Honestly, she just is the perfect example for what GW women’s basketball stands for.”
Rizzotti was well aware of Whitney prior to their connection last winter.
Before piling up 709 points and 375 assists over 91 games at Pitt, Whitney enjoyed a decorated career at Paul VI Catholic High School, which is just a few miles down the road from Rizzotti’s Northern Virginia home. She’s a regular when the perennially powerful Panthers hold open gym time, and head coach Scott Allen has long been quick to invoke Whitney as the perfect embodiment of his program.
When Whitney entered the NCAA transfer portal, it was a no-brainer for Rizzotti to reach out, and the coach quickly began to understand Allen’s praise for his former point guard.
In one of their first chats, Rizzotti suggested Whitney watch GW’s next game at Quinnipiac. When they spoke again, Whitney was ready with detailed feedback on the Buff and Blue victory.
“She was really thoughtful about what she was seeing and how she could make an impact on our team,” Rizzotti said. “I appreciated that maturity about her. I felt like she did her homework and made the investment in us before we even made the investment in her.”
Within weeks, Whitney was part of the program, her decision confirmed after a campus visit to get an up-close look at the program.
Understandably, Whitney wanted to keep a low profile joining a new squad midstream and mostly serving as a member of the scout team, but her mere presence made a difference for a young squad, Rizzotti said.
The way Whitney constantly asked questions to learn more about the system, brought daily intensity to practice and took on extra training sessions to build her conditioning provided a model worth following.
It’s a testament to her experience in the game that the mild-mannered Whitney was ready to step in and be an “energy-giver” in a new environment.
“I definitely had to learn how to be that,” said Whitney, who was named a captain at Pitt as a sophomore. “I think the biggest thing is being consistent with it. You can’t come in one day and have all this energy and then the next not have any. I think being a point guard one of the roles is reading the gym, reading your team, and you’ve got to make sure everyone is on the same page at all times.”
That job took on a new meaning amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Early in their time apart, Rizzotti told the group that they’d have to work together to fill the leadership void with four student-athletes graduating. Whitney took the charge head on, regularly phoning members of the staff to discuss what she could do to keep the Colonials pushing forward.
“That was her decision,” Rizzotti said. “It was a conscious decision to do more, to serve others, to find a way to be someone that our team could count on during this time of uncertainty.”
While apart, the Colonials stayed busy this summer, going through a leadership training course together and taking on deep conversations about how to use their platform to support social justice causes and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Whitney vowed to be more than someone who spoke up in the team Zoom meetings. She focused on building real relationships, sending individual texts to teammates and calling to check in. She made special effort to get to know the five newcomers, understanding that the transition could be more difficult than usual with so much time at home.
“You can tell she just cares so much,” Luma said. “She cares a lot about us, and she cares a lot about this program. She’s honestly the best.”
It’s why Rizzotti wasn’t surprised when the votes for captain were tallied.
“It was the easiest pick in the world for our team,” Rizzotti said.
By now, Whitney feels right at home representing the Buff and Blue.
She wants to be an extension of the coaching staff on the floor, and she’s put in the time to know what they’re thinking. Under Rizzotti’s tutelage, she feels she’s become even better at making the split-second reads that stoke consistent offense.
On a personal note, it was meaningful to meet up with Rizzotti and her family at a local Black Lives Matter rally in June and feel the support beyond the court.
“To see her putting her words into action out there protesting at the Black Lives Matter rally was really awesome,” said Whitney, who is pursuing a master’s in Criminology. “It was raining – it was pouring, actually – and just to see her there meant a lot.”
With her teammates, the bonds continue to grow, as well.
Before most every practice, Whitney will jump in the group chat with some version of a familiar theme: “I appreciate you. Let’s get better today.”
She conducts her check-ins in person now, mindful that a little small talk can go a long way.
On and off the court, she’s having fun again.
“We’ve just had a lot of togetherness,” Whitney said. “Something’s always going on. Either somebody’s singing, somebody’s dancing, making Tik-Toks. That’s kind of been our life here since we’ve gotten back.”
Rizzotti shares a recent moment that sums up Whitney’s impact on the program.
On this day, the Colonials were set for conditioning via a series of 300-yard shuttle runs, and the coach was sure no one would be happy about it.
At the news, Whitney cheered – “Oh yeah!” – before anyone else had the chance to drop their heads or grumble. It was a sly bit of veteran leadership that made Rizzotti proud as a former point guard and optimistic as a coach directing this group.
“She’s excited about a chance to get better,” Rizzotti said. “She has taught our team about how they need to be excited about the opportunity to get fitter and stronger and better. That energy in practice is so different than what we experienced last year. She, amongst others, is a big part of that.”
