Many of the famous names in basketball history have had personalities to match their exploits on the court.
Jewel Clark, senior forward on the Penn women's basketball team, prefers to let her accomplishments speak for themselves.
She has the sixth-highest point total in the history of the Penn program, with 1,189, and has a legitimate shot at finishing her career in second place, surpassing Kirsten Brendel's 1,656.
She is one of only two players on the current Quakers team to have won an Ivy League title, as a member of the 2001-2002 team along with Mikaelyn Austin.
And she is, by any standard, the team's leader and go-to player. Now she is out for one last success before her time on the Palestra floor comes to a close.
"She's our captain and she's really taking it on as a major part of who she is right now," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said. "She wants to lead this team."
Clark is modest both about where she is now and how she has gotten there.
"If I have fun, I'm going to have a good time on the court, and it's going to show in my game, and I guess numbers -- if people want to look at the numbers," she said. "As long as I'm having fun, I am confident that I will have a successful year."
The Waldorf, Md., native acknowledges that the four seniors who graduated last year -- Jenn Jones, Sunny Pitrof, Tara Twomey and Ima Abia -- were great leaders on last year's team.
"But what comes out of that is that the leaders we lost were so good that they prepared the leaders that we have for this basketball season," Clark said.
And Penn junior center Katie Kilker believes that Clark is very much one of this season's leaders.
"She's a great floor presence," Kilker said. "All the teams know she's our go-to player and I think she really does come out and show everybody what she can do."
Greenberg, who has to counter opponents' plans to shut down Clark, knows well the high regard opponents give the forward.
"That's where Jewel's experience is going to come in," Greenberg said. "That's where she's like, 'Alright, I'm being triple-teamed right now -- who do I find, how do I get them the ball best?'"
Greenberg believes that Clark has shown the qualities expected of her as the team has prepared for tonight's season opener at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
"Defensively, on the boards, offensively, where in the past she can dominate at times, but then you wouldn't see her for a while," Greenberg said. "Now it's really being consistent and I'm very excited about that."
If Clark is able to perform at a high enough level for Penn this season, there may be more to get excited about than just her individual talents by March.
