Jenny Van Kirk

Classroom

Van Kirk owns a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average.  She was named to the Bradley Athletic Director’s Honor Roll all six semesters at Bradley, and she was a second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection as a junior.  She was named an honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete as a sophomore. She also earned Division I-AAA Athletic Director’s Scholar-Athlete honors and was a second-team MVC Scholar-Athlete.  She has earned Bradley Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors five times over the last two seasons.

Character

A two-year team captain, Van Kirk has been described by the coaches as the glue to the team.  She was the recipient of the Missouri Valley Conference’s Good Neighbor Award, given to student-athletes in good academic standing who must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service.  She is an active member of Bradley’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is part of the organization’s leadership team.  Van Kirk is also a member of LINCS (Leaders Instilling Knowledge Through Cooperative Service).

Community

Van Kirk is a two-time recipient of Bradley’s Carl Grose Service Award, given annually to one student-athlete who is committed to volunteerism on campus, in Peoria and in their hometown.  Her service projects have included the Peoria Park District Harry Potter Event, Halloween event at the Wildlift Center, visiting patients at OSF Children’s Hospital, participating in a clinic for autistic children, volunteering with the Peoria Boys and Girls Club, visiting with war veterans during the team’s trip to Alaska in 2007, assisting with Richwoods High School’s Snowball event and participating in the Buddy with the Braves program (which is a mentoring, pen-pal style program with local school children coordinated through the Bradley Athletic Department’s NCAA Life Skills program).  She has also helped out at the Southside Mission/Little Friends Learning Center, the OSF St. Francis MICU/SICU units, the Peoria Dream Center basketball leagues and the St. Vincent DePaul Easter Bunny Breakfast.

Competition

One of the Braves top rebounders and defenders, Van Kirk has started 42 games over the last two years. She made 15 consecutive free throws to open the 2008-09 season and helped Bradley to a school-record 21 wins as a junior.  She averaged 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year. Van Kirk was one of three players on the roster and the only front court player for the Braves with more assists than turnovers.  She was third on the team in rebounding (4.1 per game), assists, blocks and steals last season. She also helped the Braves to their first MVC Tournament semifinal appearance since 1996-97.  Bradley was 19-7 when she had at least one assist.