The Observer, September 14, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 3
Reimer named new women's head basketball coach
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Monday marked the beginning of a new regime for the Case women basketball team. It was the first day of work for new head coach Jennifer Reimer.
Reimer comes to Case with a great record of success at other institutions. Beginning with her playing career at Lycoming College, where she was a starting point guard for four years, a two-year team captain, and first team All-Conference her senior year, Reimer has been ingrained in collegiate women's basketball. With a graduate assitant position at Northern Ohio, followed by a head coaching job at Juniata College, then a stop at Mount Union, and most recently seven years as head coach at Allegheny College, Reimer is more than qualified for the job.
On paper, she seems to be the perfect fit for the struggling Spartans, who went 9-16 last year. When she took over at Allegheny, she inherited a program in the cellar of the NCAC. She promptly turned the team around to go 20-6 her first season there. Over the following six years, Reimer would eventually become the winningest coach in Allegheny basketball history, finishing as the NCAC runner-up twice and a six-time NCAC semi-finalist.
Reimer was initially drawn to the position at Case because of its high academic standards and for the chance to compete in the UAA, annually one of the nation's best basketball conferences. "I want to be competing for national titles," said Reimer. "And when you have the top four or five teams in your conference ranked nationally, it's a great opportunity."
While she has lofty goals for her new team, she is still relatively unfamiliar with her squad and its strengths. "All the girls stopped in [Monday] to come see me for the first time, which was great," said Reimer. "Our first team meeting is this Friday."
While she may not know her team yet, she knows the philosophy that she is going to run the team by. "Work hard one day at a time," said Reimer. "We are just going to pursue excellence one day at a time." She also noted that this won't be hard to get her players to buy into, because the seniors have already had the team working out in the gym. "They're doing a great job of getting the team in shape and ready to go for the first practice," said Reimer.
One of the biggest things that is going to help Reimer and the players through this transition is assistant coach Freeman Blade. She will look to him as a foundation for the team to build from. "He's great," Reimer said. "I've only been here two days and he's already answered so many questions. He will definitely be key during this whole process."
While the first official practice day, Oct. 15th, is more than a month out and Reimer has only been here for less than a week, one can feel electricity in her Veale office. "I'm just excited to be a part of Case Western and can't wait for the season to start," said Reimer. The women's first game is a tournament at Carnegie Mellon on Nov. 16 vs. Mount Union.
