Jen Hoover Joins the Deac2Deac Podcast

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Jen Hoover, a three-time All-ACC selection in women's basketball and current the all-time wins leader as women's basketball coach at Wake Forest, joins host Kevin Smith on this week's podcast.

Hoover was in a class of her own during her time as a student-athlete on Reynolda Campus. Playing under her maiden name, Jenny Mitchell, Hoover played for the Deacs from 1987-1991. During her freshman season, Mitchell helped Wake Forest to its first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where she scored the winning basket over Villanova to advance to the second round.

Her 1,728 career points led the Demon Deacon record books for over 20 years until they were surpassed by Dearica Hamby. The pair remain the only two Deacs to surpass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in program history. Hoover still holds WFU career records for field goals (763), field goal percentage (.607) and double-doubles (50).

Hoover was named to three All-ACC teams during her career, and was a Fast Break All-American her final three seasons in Black and Gold. She was named to the 50th Anniversary Team by the ACC during the 2002-2003 season, and was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Following her playing career, Hoover began coaching women's basketball at the collegiate level, with stops at Cal, Virginia, Memphis, James Madison, East Carolina, VCU and Missouri-Kansas City. She was hired as the head coach at her alma mater in 2012, after coaching one season as head coach at High Point University.

Since returning to Winston-Salem, Hoover has set the program record for career wins with 126, and took the Deacs back to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, the first berth for Wake Forest since her own freshman season. She's coached players to All-ACC teams seven times as head coach, and has coached the Deacs' first and second ever WNBA draft picks (Hamby, Ivana Raca).

On today's podcast, Coach Hoover discusses her favorite Demon Deacon memory, the challenges the last year brought on her team, how she and her staff coaches during the offseason and her reputation as a player developer.

Listeners are encouraged to send feedback and ideas to smithka@wfu.edu or @Deac2Deac on Twitter.

The Deac2Deac podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and GoDeacs.com/Watch.

Deac2Deac · Episode 12: Women's Basketball Coach Jen Hoover

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