Head Coach Charity Elliott and the LMU women’s basketball program have finalized the team’s 2018-19 coaching staff with three new additions. Jhasmin Player joins the staff as an assistant coach while Emily Ben-Jumbo becomes the team’s director of operations and Daisy Feder comes on as a graduate assistant.
Player graduated from Baylor University with a degree in speech communication in 2009 and was a four-year member for the Bears’ basketball team, earning captain honors for her junior and senior seasons. Player guided Baylor to four NCAA tournament appearances and a 2009 Big 12 tournament championship. Individually, Player was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team in 2009 and also earned Big 12 All-Defensive Team and Second-Team All-Conference honors during her collegiate career.
She most recently worked at the University of Maine as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s basketball team. She was in this role from 2016-18 and also worked as an assistant for the Black Bears from 2011-13 before returning to Poland for her second professional basketball stint. Player helped recruit in Maine’s nine-member 2012 class which was ranked as the No. 36 class that year by Blue Star Basketball and produced a pair of America East regular season championships. She also spent the 2009 season in Portugal and 2010 season in Spain as part of her professional career.
“This position was really critical for us and I took my time to make sure that we found the right person,” Coach Elliott said. “I’m thrilled to say that we hit a home run with Jhasmin Player. She has a history of excellence from her playing days at Baylor to her recruiting successes at Maine, particularly in the international scene. What stood out to me was her combination of confidence and humility. Our players are going to love the passion and experience she brings, and on the recruiting side, she will hit the ground running. We are so excited to welcome her to the bluff.”
Ben-Jumbo is a Loyola Marymount alum who played for the Lion women from 2011-15 and earned her undergraduate degree in communication with a minor in theater. She averaged 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds over her four-year career at LMU, appearing in 119 games which ranked tied for third-most all-time in program history at the time of her graduation. She earned All-WCC Honorable Mention and was named to the WCC All-Academic Team as a senior after averaging a career-best 11.4 points and 5.7 boards. She was the female recipient of the 2013-14 West Coast Conference’s individual sportsmanship honor as a junior, and was named team captain status as a sophomore in 2012-13.
Following her LMU career, the Tualatin, Ore. native earned her master’s degree in business management and entrepreneurship from Durham University in England (2015-16) while playing for the university’s women’s basketball team which was ranked No. 1 in the conference. She went on to play professionally in Luxembourg (2016-17), Argentina (2017) and Arequipa, Peru (2018) before returning to the United States and becoming a NASM certified personal trainer with a specialization in performance enhancement and corrective exercises. Ben-Jumbo also has a wealth of coaching experience at the youth and high school levels.
“Since Emily graduated from LMU, I knew I’d want her back on staff,” Elliott said. “As a player and captain on our team, she was an excellent example of a Lion and what we wanted our program to be about. She was our hardest worker, extremely loyal and a tremendous leader and our current players will benefit from her playing experience and wisdom about what it means to be a part of this program. Plus, her smile and joy are infectious!”
Feder joins the LMU women’s basketball program as a graduate assistant after playing professionally in Israel for the last five seasons. She graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in ethnic studies and minor in psychology in 2012. She played under Coach Elliott during her time at UCSD. Feder was a Triton from 2008-2012, earning several awards during her career including Daktronics All-West Region First Team, CCAA Most Valuable Player, All-CCAA First Team, All-CCAA Tournament Team, Capital One Academic All-District and UCSD Athlete of the Year as a senior and Daktronics All-West Region Second Team and All-CCAA First Team as a junior.
She averaged 11.8 points per game over her collegiate career, including a career-high 18.3 points per game as a senior with 6.5 boards.
Feder is a Los Angeles local from Santa Monica and she attended Santa Monica High School.
“Daisy had an incredible career playing for me at UCSD and has been playing professionally in Israel for the last 5 years,” Elliott said. “I’m so glad to have her joining us as our GA as she, along with Emily, know what this program stands for and what I’m looking for out of our players. Her loyalty and passion are exactly what I look for in staff members and I’m excited for our student-athletes to get to know her.”
Player, Ben-Jumbo and Feder complete the women’s basketball staff along with head coach Charity Elliott and current assistant coaches Chris Elliott and Jasmin Holliday, who was promoted from the team’s director of operations position this summer.
“This, to me, is a dream staff,” Elliott said. “This is a group of highly passionate and energetic people all committed to this team’s success and to making an impact in young peoples’ lives. I’m excited to get started with this staff and to take LMU Women’s Basketball to an even higher level.”
https://lmulions.com/news/2018/8/28/womens-basketball-finalizes-coaching-staff.aspx?path=wbball
Tagged with: DI Staff Update
