Former Penn women’s basketball star Jewel Clark is returning to the Palestra floor one more time.
Today, however, she will not be stepping on the court to augment her strong numbers in the Penn record books. Instead, she will go down in a different record book when she is honored by the Big 5 for her prolific career.
Clark, a 2004 College graduate, is one of this year’s five inductees into the Big 5 Hall of Fame, which recognizes players, coaches, broadcasters, sportswriters and others who have made significant contributions to the Big 5.
As a rookie, Clark led the Quakers to an Ivy League title and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. She was selected to the Ivy League All-Rookie team — only the fourth Quaker to do so at the time.
She was a three-time All-Ivy first-team selection and won the Ivy League and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Year honors in 2003-04 — when she also led her team to another Ivy League championship.
Clark remains second on Penn’s all-time women’s basketball scoring list with 1,743 points. The 554 points she scored her senior year were the sixth-highest season total in program history. She also recorded 29 double-doubles in her collegiate career, including 12 in her final season.
The induction ceremony will take place during a luncheon today at the Palestra.
The most recent Quaker to be inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame was men’s basketball coach Jerome Allen, who was recognized in 2009.
