FAIRMONT -
If you go to a Fairmont State women's basketball game you may not recognize the first person sitting on the bench. You will remember the name. That person is Jessica Sell.
"I definitely feel like it's what I'm meant to do," affirmed Sell. "I feel like I can get a lot better and part of the reason I'm here is because I'm learning a lot. Coach Mac has had nothing but success since he's been here. So I'm very humbled to learn in his program and to learn from one of the best, in fact."
The former North Marion star has been busy since her days in Rachel. Sell played for four years at The University of North Carolina, joined the staff there after graduation, moved to California to coach at UC-Irvine, then came back East and got into personal training. Now she's the Graduate Assistant for the Fairmont State University women's basketball team, studying for a masters in Education. After traveling the world as a player and coach, Sell said Fairmont is the best place for her.
"You know, I get the best of both worlds," said Sell with a smile. "I get to be around people I love, my entire family is from here, and I get to do what I love and not a lot of people get to do what they love, in a place that they love, with people they love. So I feel very blessed and very fortunate to be obtaining a masters here and still be around the game."
Sell's roots in Rachel as a player are legendary. In her senior year at North Marion, Jessica was named West Virginia Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the year. She averaged 30 points and 14 rebounds per game. The one thing she doesn't have in common with the handful of former Huskies that now sit on the roster at FSU, is a state championship.
"I was star struck when I walked in because they all got to do things I never got to do; at this point, three-time state champions," explained Sell. "So I was very honored to meet them and get to know them on the court because while they were in high school playing, I was on the other side of the country coaching and so they saw me when they were younger, play and I really wasn't around to watch them play much. So to get involved with them as players is a very wonderful experience for me."
Sell brings Division-I experience to the Lady Falcons but the Barrackville native feels her contributions as a fellow student-athlete are even more important.
"What I really hope to accomplish, really, is to just share a little bit of what I experienced with these players and to learn as much as possible. I'm always, I feel like you can always learn something. There's always something to be gathered from every experience that you have in your life and I just felt like my experience at UNC as a student-athlete was a fabulous experience," said Sell. "It wasn't the easiest at all, but I learned so much and it was so character building and I just want to impart to these girls that. Savor the moment because it's five years since I graduated and I just want them to experience all the good things that can come from being a student-athlete and how it shapes you as a person. I just hope that I can be a positive influence for them."
Sell's goal is to one day be a head coach. She said that at first, she was only interested in coaching D-I but after her experiences at Fairmont State, she feels like basketball is basketball and the game is the game. She would be humbled to coach at any level.
"I feel like I bring enthusiasm and encouragement," commented Sell. "I feel like as a player, that's something that was such an intangible, that was needed from someone who was like a bridge like myself, that played but is still on the coaching staff but is close enough to the age of the players to understand what they're going through because I lived it. I went to class, I had practice and weight and I endured the same stresses that they go through right now. So, I think I'm a good encouraging bridge for the girls. As someone on staff, but at the same time someone who really can empathize with what they're going through and kind of just encourage them to keep their heads up and keep a good attitude and stay with it."
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