‘I’m just excited to be a part of it’: For the Jekot family, Big 5 women’s basketball is a tradition

When Jill Jekot was choosing where to play college basketball, she said, everyone expected her to play at a Philly school, just like her three older sisters.

The oldest, Kelly Jekot, played at Villanova for three years. Katie Jekot followed — she played at St. Joseph’s for five seasons. Julie Jekot capped her career at La Salle this season with a stint as a graduate assistant.

Still, Jill had her own plans. She went to Penn State, where Kelly finished her career.

But plans changed, and Jill entered the transfer portal after her freshman year before signing with St. Joe’s in what she called “a very full-circle moment” for the Jekot family.

“It’s a cool thing for my parents to say all their kids have played in a Big 5 school,” said Jill, a guard who averaged 0.9 points and 0.8 rebounds in 21 games as a freshman. “Honestly, I’m just excited to be a part of it. I hear so much about it. Everyone that is a part of it loves it. So I’m excited to get started and then see what it’s like.”

Kelly started the family’s Big 5 tradition in 2016, when she started at Villanova. But the family’s ties to Philly basketball went back further.

Despite being from Enola, Pa., almost two hours outside the city, all four women played AAU basketball for the Philly Comets growing up. Their father, John Jekot, said they never intended to play in Philly, but when the AAU program near them, Capital, ended, they were referred to the Comets. It was “everything you would want in” a program, he said. They also had family from the Philly area.

“Our kids thrived in those programs, and they also met lifelong friends in those programs,” John said. “That’s the one thing I would say about our family and our kids is that we’re loyal, almost to a fault. We’re loyal, too, because we recognize the benefits of staying power with what we think are good programs.”

» READ MORE: Katie Jekot is latest Jekot making name for herself in Big 5 (from 2019)

It was that sense of loyalty that brought Jill back to Philly. She entered the portal with the hopes of being more of an “impact player” for a program but said the process was scary, knowing how many other players also were looking to transfer. But she was looking for a school with people she was familiar with and a winning program.

Enter St. Joe’s.

During Jill’s high school recruitment, she said, St. Joe’s was always interested in recruiting her.

“I never doubted whether they wanted me to come there or not,” Jill said.

John Jekot said that once Jill decided on Penn State, the St. Joe’s staff “not only encouraged her that she could play that level, but they wished her well.” They also offered that if anything unexpected happened, they would be there for her.

So on the second go-around, Jill said, St. Joe’s came to mind right away because of her sister’s time with the program and because of the “strong respect” Jill has for Hawks coach Cindy Griffin and her staff.

“I believe very strongly in the culture they created there and their winning atmosphere,” Jill said. “So I knew I liked the location of the school, and then once we started talking, I almost knew right away that I wanted to go to St Joe’s.”

» READ MORE: Inside the sense of community that fuels St. Joe’s women’s sports teams

Katie Jekot, who ranks eighth in Hawks history in assists and scored more than 1,000 points in her career on Hawk Hill, didn’t want to sway her youngest sister one way or the other. She said she spoke positively about St. Joe’s, but Jill came to the conclusion on her own.

Still, Katie’s experience at St. Joe’s had some influence on Jill, who said she goes to her sisters first for most things, especially when it came to the transfer process, since Kelly had experience with it.

“I asked Katie for some advice, and she let me know there’s obviously hard times, but they’re going to push you to be your best self,” Jill said. “Then she told me that on the back end of that, I’ll have a great experience. I can make something for myself there.”

Katie, seven years older than Jill, said the two never had the chance to have a real link in basketball because they didn’t have the same opportunities to play with or against each other the way she, Kelly, and Julie did. But now, St. Joe’s has become that link for them.

“We were talking, and I was like, ‘Isn’t this so weird? Now we’re going to be connected in this way,’” Katie said. “The same coaching staff that I graduated with will be there, and my freshman college roommate [Mary Sheehan] is the [director of basketball operations] there. So there’s so many connections.”

» READ MORE: The real Mare Sheehan is also a Delco native, a Hawks basketball captain, and a Wawa fan | from 2021

While Jill will begin her Big 5 journey after her sisters ended theirs, the shared experience of playing Philly basketball links them. Kelly said after watching Katie start at St. Joe’s a year after she began at Villanova and Julie committing to La Salle a few years later, it never was a surprise to her that they all gravitated toward the Big 5.

“We all share the same passion for playing basketball, and we’re similar in a lot of ways,” Kelly said. “So I feel like what drove me to Philadelphia is maybe what drove them: very good education, our family being out here. We’re a very close family. It’s not shocking to me that we all kind of stayed in the same area.”

Because both sisters tore their ACLs and Kelly transferred, she and Katie played each other only once, and Katie said each had her worst game. Katie and Julie however, faced each other several times as Big 5 and Atlantic 10 opponents.

“That was fun, because that’s my baby sister, and we never had that experience of being on the court together or even thinking about Julie vs. Katie in a basketball sense,” Katie said.

The sisterly rivalry on top of the Big 5 and A-10 rivalry always brought another level to the game, Julie said. And while they won’t be facing her on the court, cheering for their sister from the stands still “means a lot” to the Jekot sisters.

“I’m so excited for her,” Julie said. “We all kind of know what she’s about to embark on, and I think she’s going to kill it and have just such a great time, and I can’t wait to be 10 minutes away from her and get to go watch all her games and have that support system out in Philly.”

» READ MORE: Love of hoops and competitive spirit fuel sets of sisters across city teams |from 2023

Like her sisters, Katie said Jill also hopes to get her MBA while at St. Joe’s, making the school a good fit academically as well. John said it’s a “nice little fringe benefit” to have all of his daughters get the most out of their scholarships academically as well.

“I think the cool thing about the legacy of what the girls have left is that they all helped each other along the way in this journey,” John said. “I would put the Big 5 up against any … schools in the country, as far as their work ethic, what they teach, and that nostalgia and history and everything else to be prideful to be part of it.”