- Creighton women's basketball alum Jaylyn Agnew is now an assistant coach for the program.
- She scored more than 1,500 points in college before a short pro career, then retired from the sport after injury.
- Agnew says because she's not much older than the players and was once in their shoes, she can relate to them easily.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m your neighborhood sports reporter Kelsey Mannix. Creighton women’s basketball assistant coach Jaylyn Agnew knows firsthand what it’s like to play on the court at D.J. Sokol Arena. Now she’s getting a different perspective here on the sideline. After retiring from basketball she’s back at her alma mater sharing her love for a sport she’s played her whole life.
“About a year ago actually I tore my other ACL,” Agnew said, “and so I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, if I wanted to keep playing or go a different route.
And just like in 2015 when she graduated high school that route led to Creighton.
It’s been almost four years since Agnew last lit up the scoreboard for the Jays on her way to 1,552 career points before a short stint at the pro level.
“She mentioned that she’s 27," head coach Jim Flanery said. “I was like ‘wait… you can’t be 27!’ So it does feel like she was just here and just such a big part of our program.”
“We have younger coaches but kind of being a little bit younger and being able to refer back to when I was playing not that long ago, and be in their shoes and kind of relate to the girls a little bit more (helps),” Agnew said.
“I do feel like if you’re Morgan (Maly) or Emma (Ronsiek) or Lauren (Jensen), you can look and say ‘Well Jaylyn played in the WNBA,’” Flanery said. “‘And as good as I am, I can learn from her.’”
“(Agnew) brings some excitement and some youthful energy to our coaching staff,” senior guard Morgan Maly said. “I’m excited to just learn from a great player and see how she leaves her mark as a coach now.”
“(Agnew has been) helping us a lot in the outside world of just basketball and life after basketball for some of us who have come to that point,” senior guard Jayme Horan said. “So it’s been great to have her on the sideline.”
“I think just knowing Flan over the course of my career then obviously these past couple years, knowing how he works and can understand what he’s looking at and being able to tell the girls different things that maybe he doesn’t outrightly say but know that he’s thinking it,” Agnew said.
And there’s at least one thing Agnew says coaches and players can agree on.
“They’re expecting a lot of themselves as we are as coaches as well,” she said. “Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, we’re striving for the best and they want that as well. So I think everyone’s on the same page.”
