This week’s Campus Celebrity is doing big things on the basketball courts at Conn. Â Jennifer Shinall is a senior who is a key component of the women’s basketball team, recently breaking a school record by scoring 1,000 points.
 1. When did you begin playing basketball and when did you decide you wanted to play in college?
I started playing basketball in 4th grade but I began to play seriously around 7th and 8th grade when I played AAU basketball. I am not really sure when I decided to play in college, it was just known when I entered high school that I would want to move onto the next level and play.
 2. How have you grown as a player since you started playing at Conn?  Was the transition from high school basketball to college basketball difficult?
I think that I have become much more of a team player and I am surrounded by more committed players in college than I was in high school. You really have to love the sport to play in college, where in high school anyone could get by with playing because the commitment in college is much higher. The transition was not too hard for me from playing in high school to college. The competition is definitely harder and the players are much bigger than in high school. I definitely have to work a lot harder than I worked in high school, but being in college I have a lot more time to head to the gym in my free time which I love to do.
3. Have you gotten any good advice from teammates or coaches?
I have received good advice from my coaches as well as my high school coaches. My coach has definitely helped me to keep my head up on bad days and taught me its always about the next shot and not to worry about the past.
4. When looking back on your college basketball career, what would you say are some of your best memories?
Scoring 1000 points was definitely a great memory for me and very exciting. We played #18 Williams a couple of weeks ago and we upset them which is definitely a great memory as well. I’ve met some great people and some of my best friends are on the basketball team and that has definitely helped my experience. We went to Orlando Florida my sophomore year and while we did not upset any great teams it  was a really fun experience overall and a lot of great team time.
5. What are your plans after graduation?
After graduation I plan to attend a couple of tryouts to try and play basketball overseas, but thats a stretch. I applied to some gap-year teaching programs so I am hoping to get one of those and after that I plan to attend grad school and get my masters in education and become an elementary school teacher.  Maybe one day I
will coach.