Jennifer Hamson – court to court

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While fans easily (and sometimes eagerly) transition from one sport to another, most collegiate athletes find a niche and stay put. One of BYU’s rare exceptions to this rule is Jennifer Hamson, who plays significant time for both volleyball and women’s basketball. Becoming a volleyball star and basketball standout is far from easy, but perhaps for Hamson, it was destiny.
Jen Hamson’s mother, Tresa, led the nation in scoring her senior year as a center on BYU’s women’s basketball team. A four-time All-American, Tresa passed along  one of her most valuable assets for any sport – height. Surprisingly though, Jen’s first love was volleyball, not basketabll. Now she’s to the point that she doesn’t even have a favorite.

“I don’t have a preference; I like them both,” Jen said about volleyball and basketball. “Your heart wants to be in two places at once but obviously you can’t do all things. I just try to do my best, to show all teams that I care.”

Jen is used to splitting her attention, however. Top high school athletes are often courted by several schools, but Jen broke the mold. While playing at Pleasant Grove high she was recruited by two coaches from the same university.

“Both of us recruited her. I think (head volleyball coach) Shawn Olmstead and me had to be on the same page,” head women´s basketball coach Jeff Judkins said. “To let a lady play both sports, you have to give and take.”

Because of NCAA regulations, one might say the basketball team is giving a little more. The Athletic Association has a hierarchy of sports and any student athlete that plays multiple sports can only be on scholarship from the program higher up the food chain. In this case, Women´s basketball covers the tab.

The coaches agree it´s worth the effort to share Jen. She’s limited to four hours of practice per day, no matter the sport. For now, she’s focused on Volleyball, but by mid-December, it will be all basketball.

“She’s fun to coach because she wants to be good in both,” Judkins said.  “A lot of times a girls might just say I’m too tired but that’s not Jen. She likes to be the best she can be in anything she does.”

The volleyball team is competing for their first West Coast Conference championship and the women’s basketball season is just starting.

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