Jessie Bartley Kenlaw

2003 Effingham County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

            Assistant coach Jessie Kenlaw lights the spark exhibited at Fire team practices.  Her drive and intensity blends unbelievably well with the know-how and comparison that is required of a coach at the professional level.  These qualities were no surprise to Head Coach and General Manager Linda Hargrove, as Kenlaw served as an assistant under Hargrove with the Colorado Xplosion of the ABL in the 1998-99 seasons.

            Before joining the Seattle Fire in 2000, Kenlaw spent the previous season under famed Head Coach Leon Barmore at Louisiana Tech, where she was in charge of working with the post players as well as scouting, recruiting, and game preparation.

            A native of Guyton, Georgia, Kenlaw previously served as the head coach at the University of Houston for eight years (1990-98).  While at Houston, she compiled a career mark of 106-121 and led the Lady Cougars to post-season play two times.  In 1991, she was named BCA National Coach of the Year after leading Houston to a 21-7 record and the university’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  Prior to her head coaching position, she was an assistant coach at Houston from 1988-90 under Greg Williams, now head coach of the Detroit Shock and at Lamar University from 1987-88.

            Jessie earned her bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Savannah State in 1975.  Through the school did not institute a basketball program until her senior year, she a member of the Tigerettes inaugural season in 1976-77, earning team MVP honors.  Jessie later played professionally as a pioneer in the Women’s Professional Basketball League from 1979-82 with the Houston Angels and the Phoenix Flames, helping lead the Angels to the World Championships in 1980.

            She now resides in Seattle Washington just for the season and will return to Atlanta once the season is over.