Wake Forest Athletics
Jenn Miklic Happy to Be Part of It
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
January 25, 1999
By Jay Reddick
Jenn Miklic has a realistic viewpoint on the Wake Forest women's basketball program and her role in it.
She knows the team probably isn't going to knock anyone's socks off in this, her senior season. And she knows that when the history of the team's eventual rise to success is written, she won't be one of the highlighted players.
But she'll be a part of it, and that's good enough for her.
"It's going to take a little time," Miklic says. "This year won't be an awesome year where we'll get the wins, but we're heading that way. I'm working my hardest so that next year we'll be a little better, then the next, then the next. I'm making this team better for our freshmen, for our sophomores. That's how it goes."
When Miklic was in high school in Ballston Lake, N.J., she relished the attention she received. She got all the accolades that every Division I college player got as a prepster and she was the focus of every opposing team's defense.
Now, she's spent four years in college with a dozen or more other players who were also deified in their hometowns. And it has been nothing short of a growth experience for her.
"In high school I was the star, the go-to person," Miklic says. "I was never a role player. Now, I do this on defense or that on offense, and I'm part of a team. I learned to be a team player, and that's part of becoming more mature."
Where Miklic has been most valuable to the Deacs has been on defense, and she takes great pride in it. She has started 15 games at the small forward spot this year, but her defensive position has typically been in the face of the opponent's best player.
"I'm the defensive player. It's what I do best," Miklic says. "I love defense, getting out in the passing lane and getting that steal or getting that rebound or stopping their best player. To hold them, when they don't get the points they're expecting, that's a great accomplishment. It's not glamorous, but somebody's gotta do the dirty work."
Miklic averaged just 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game through Jan. 17, but has kept her starting job precisely because of her defensive prowess, as well as her leadership. She's averaged just under 11 minutes a game, but she's not one to angle for more playing time. In fact, she's very happy that the team's freshmen have started to play a bigger role...it's all part of making the team better down the road.
"I'm glad they're getting a chance, they're stepping up," Miklic says. "It's a hard, hard league, and how good they're doing says a lot about where this team will be in a couple of years. They're good team players. That's what you want, somebody you can trust on the court and off, because the team is like a family."
Miklic has seen Wake Forest through the lows of last year, winning only four games, through the realtive highs of this year's victories over Clemson and Georgia Tech. As one of the elders on the team, she has started to impart wisdom to the freshmen.
"There's ups and downs, and they're rough downs," Miklic said. "You go through a year winning four games, it takes a toll on you. You have to take the good from that and move on, work on getting better and improving."
Miklic's helpful nature extends to her own personal life. Since she was a kid, she has wanted to be a police officer. Many kids say that, but not many hold on to that dream and follow it through. Miklic plans to do just that next year.
"I was a tomboy," Miklic admits. "I never touched a doll, and if I did, it was Ken. I just loved guns. All my friends were boys, and I wanted nothing to do with playing house or anything like that. We would always ooh and ahh when a police car would come by. I thought, right away I wanna be one of them, wear the suit.
"Now, it's different. I want to stop crime and make this a better place to live and help people. I see myself as a helpful person, a caring person. That's who I am. I would do anything for someone I care about."
But before then, she has a college basketball career to finish. And no, she won't put up the flashy stats or earn the MVP awards, but she has made her mark at Wake Forest.
"I may not the one who gets the end result," Miklic says, "but I'm the process part - the builder of the building. The one in the hard hat, nailing in the wood. Everyone sees the finished product, but not everyone sees who helped to build it. And I like having that role."
