Jordan Korinek

Classroom

Jordan Korinek carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA and was a 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-American. Additionally, she is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District, two-time MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete, two-time Academic All-MAC and four-time MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week honoree.

Set to graduate in Spring 2018 with a degree in physical education, Korinek completed the required 55 hours of field experience while going through preseason training in the fall semester. Always planning ahead, she began her student teaching while Kent State was on winter break in order to compensate for days that competition travel will require her to miss during the spring semester.

Character

Korinek epitomizes the ideal student-athlete in how she conducts herself on the court, in the classroom and in the community. A two-year team captain, she has always led by example. Korinek is the team’s best player and hardest worker, arriving to the gym first and leaving last. She serves as a mentor to the underclassmen who are learning what it takes to be a member of a successful college team. According to one teammate, “If you want to watch somebody do something, you want to watch Jordan because she is going to show you how it’s done the right way.” Korinek also sets the tone for the team academically, as one teammate noted that she aspires to earn a 4.0 as well to be like her.

Her consistency, reliability and willingness to do whatever the team needs to be successful were key to her teammates buying into the current coaching staff after being hired in Spring 2016. Just prior to the start of the conference season, the team lost its staff member who worked with post players and was down a person the rest of the year. The Flashes lost their first two league games, including a 24-point loss on the road, to fall two games below .500 on the season. However, Korinek upped her game to average 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds while leading Kent State to a 13-3 record the rest of the way and the MAC East Division title.

Community

Korinek has made time to give back, both locally and abroad, during her time on campus. At the conclusion of the spring semester, she traveled with a group of Kent State student-athletes to Aguacate, Belize and worked with Courts for Kids on the construction of a multipurpose sports court located next to the local school. Korinek spent free time during the week-long trip getting to know the children in the community and helping teach them how to play basketball, American football and volleyball.

The women’s basketball program was honored as a “Friend of the Kent City Schools” by the district’s board of education in October 2015 for its impact on the students at Davey Elementary School. Korinek and her teammates spent countless hours at the school partaking in a variety of activities, including participating in gym classes, reading to classes and talking to students about staying fit and healthy, as well as the important role education plays in being a collegiate athlete.

Korinek has also assisted in preparing meals at Campus Kitchen and a Feed My Starving Children mobile location in addition to serving meals at the Center for Hope in Ravenna. Along with her teammates, Korinek has visited local assisted living centers to play different games with the residents. The Flashes also competed in the Jock Jams event, which is a music/entertainment competition between KSU athletics programs that raises money to be donated to a local elementary school.

Competition

Korinek has earned All-MAC honors each of the past two seasons and enters the year as the only active player in the conference with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. She is one of just four Golden Flashes all-time who have reached the 1,000-point milestone while shooting 50-percent or better from the floor. Korinek currently ranks 7th in KSU history in free throw percentage (.787) and 19th in points (1,155). A two-time MAC East Division Player of the Week honoree, she averaged 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game to earn All-MAC Second Team honors a year ago. Korinek led the Flashes in scoring and rebounding and was All-MAC honorable mention as a sophomore.

During the 2016-17 campaign, Korinek helped lead Kent State to one of biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I women’s college basketball. Picked to finish last in the preseason, the Golden Flashes won their first MAC East Division title since 2004-05 and earned a postseason berth (WNIT) for the first time since 2010-11. KSU made the nation’s largest RPI improvement, jumping 225 spots from the previous season, and was tied for the fifth most-improved record in the country.