Jessica Gaspar (born December 7, 1976) is an American former
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. She played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the University of North Carolina in and later professionally in Iceland where she won multiple awards and accolades.
Playing career
High school career
Gasper attended
Dartmouth High School where she played basketball and was a four-time Eastern Athletic League All-Star. She averaged 26.4 points during her senior season. During the post-season, she averaged 31.2 points per game. During her four years at Dartmouth, the team compiled an overall record of 71 wins in 80 games.
College career
Gaspar played with the
North Carolina Tar Heels
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...
from 1995–1999, winning the
ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
twice and advancing to the
NCAA tournament three times (1997, 1998, 1999). During the second round of the
1997 NCAA tournament, as the Tar Heels where eliminating Michigan State, Gaspar tore her
ACL in her left knee while driving to the basket.
Professional career
Gaspar joined
KFÍ
The Vestri men's basketball team, commonly known as Vestri, is a basketball team based in Ísafjörður, Iceland. The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag Ísafjarðar and held that name until it merged with newly founded Íþrótta ...
in the Icelandic
Úrvalsdeild kvenna for the
2000–01 season. She broke the Úrvalsdeild single game assist record on November 24, 2000, when she had 17 assists against
Grindavík
Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn.
It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...
, and led the team to a 10-6 record, securing third place
and their first ever playoff appearance. Despite averaging 19.5 points and 13.5 rebounds, KFÍ got swept by
Keflavík in the semi-finals. Gaspar led the league in scoring (24.1 ppg), assists (5.3 apg) and steals (5.1 spg)
while coming second in rebounds (10.0 rpg). For her efforts she was voted the
Foreign player of the year.
Gaspar joined
UMFG for the
2001–02 season and won the
Icelandic Cup with them after defeating
Keflavík in the finals, 82-58.
After averaging 21.5 points in the first 11 league games,
she sustained a partial tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in January, the same ACL she had surgically repaired at the end of her sophomore season at UNC in 1997, and missed the rest of the season.
Despite the injury, she led the league in rebounds with 13.7 rebounds per game, set a league record for steals with 7.2 per game
and was once again voted the Foreign player of the year.
Due to the ACL injury, she retired from professional basketball following the season.
Coaching career
Gaspar served as an assistant coach to
Ann Hancock at
UNC Wilmington
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...
during the 2004–2005 season.
Titles, awards and achievements
Titles
*
ACC champion: 1997, 1998
*
Icelandic Basketball Cup: 2002
Awards
*
Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year: 2001, 2002
Achievements
*
Úrvalsdeild scoring champion: 2001
*
Úrvalsdeild assists leader: 2001
*
Úrvalsdeild rebounding leader: 2002
*
Úrvalsdeild steals leader: 2001, 2002
Film
Gaspar appeared in the 2002 comedy film
Juwanna Mann
''Juwanna Mann'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jesse Vaughan, written by Bradley Allenstein, produced by Bill Gerber, and starring Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans, Gi ...
which starred
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Miguel A. Núñez Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' and ''Life''. He played leading roles in ''Juwanna Mann'' and ''Tour of Duty'' and appears on the hit BET drama ''The Family Busines ...
,
Vivica A. Fox and
Kim Wayans.
External links
Tar Heels player profile
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspar, Jessica
1976 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in Iceland
Basketball players from Massachusetts
North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball players
Point guards
People from Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) players
Grindavík women's basketball players
Vestri women's basketball players