March 30, 2007

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Former Lady Tiger basketball player Jennifer Sullivan has returned to her alma mater, joining Blair Savage-Lansden's staff as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons at Rhodes College.

"It feels great to be back at home and working for a coach that I trust and played under," Sullivan said. "I'm excited to be back in Division I athletics."

At Rhodes, Sullivan served as an assistant coach to Matt Dean, helping the Lynx to an 18-8 record in 2005-06 and a 16-10 record in 2006-07. She worked with the guards at Rhodes, including guard Ashley Farrell, who led the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in scoring and was named to the D3Hoops.com All-South Region team following this past season.

"We're excited to add Jennifer Sullivan to our staff," Savage said. "It's always exciting to bring back former players and the way Jennifer played over her last two seasons is exactly how she was in coaching over at Rhodes. We're excited to bring that energy and enthusiasm to our staff here at Memphis. In the short time that Jennifer has been here, you can already see her building a good rapport with our returning players."

A 2001 graduate of Jonesboro High School, Sullivan capped a four-year Lady Tiger career with 800 career points, 310 rebounds and 99 steals. She played in 102 career games, starting 84 for her career and starting every game in her last two seasons. Her senior year, Sullivan averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while playing under Savage-Lansden. She was named to the Fun in the Sun Shootout All-Tournament Team and the Lady Tiger Classic All-Tournament Team as a senior. She shot 51.0 percent from the floor for her career and at the end of her senior season, she was named the team Most Valuable Player.

Sullivan graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Communications in May of 2005.

In the coaching ranks, Sullivan is joined by former Lady Tiger teammates Jordie Soso, an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, and Shannon Hamp, a graduate assistant coach at Southern Miss.