Frozena Jerro, who has won Division I conference championships as a head coach and as a player, has joined the NJIT women’s basketball staff in June 2009.
Jerro, who was in the NCAA Division I tournament as head coach at Cal State Northridge and as a player at Arizona State, was also an assistant coach with three different NCAA Division I programs—Houston (1993-95), Cal State Northridge (1997-98), and UNLV (2002-08). Her most recent job was a one-year stint assisting at West Los Angeles College in 2008-09.
Coach Jerro, led the program at Cal State Northridge from 1998 to 2002 and is the most successful head coach in that program’s 35-year history. Her 1998-99 Matadors posted a 21-8 overall record and made the NCAA Division I Tournament as champion of the Big Sky Conference. Honored as Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1998-99, she took the Matadors back to the conference championship game in 2000, finishing with an 18-10 record.
Her overall record as head coach at Cal State Northridge was 48-41 and her overall winning percentage of .539 and conference winning percentage of .615 (29-18) are both tops among the 10 head coaches in Matador history.
As a college player, Jerro starred at both St. Mary’s College in her native northern California and at Arizona State, where she graduated in 1993. At Saint Mary’s, she led the West Coast Conference in steals as a freshman and helped the Gaels to WCC titles in each of her two years. Moving on to Arizona State, she was a Pac-10 Conference All-Star after helping the Sun Devils into the 1992 NCAA Tournament. She also played in the 1990 United States Olympic Sports Festival.
Arizona State, coincidentally, was where the basketball careers of Frozena Jerro and Margaret McKeon first overlapped, as Jerro’s final two years as a college player were McKeon’s first two years as a college coach. Subsequently, Jerro began her own coaching career at Houston in 1993, where McKeon was also an assistant coach from 1993 to 1995.
Coach Jerro moved on from Houston to Cal State Northridge, where she spent one season as an assistant before ascending to head coach in 1998. Next up was a six-year stint at UNLV that saw the Lady Rebels reach postseason play four times, with berths in the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 Women’s National Invitation Tournaments. UNLV’s combined record in her tenure was 99-84, including a 26-win season in 2003-04.
“Coach Jerro has been very successful, both as a player and a coach,” said McKeon in announcing the staff addition. “She is a great teacher of the game with a strong work ethic and an upbeat, positive personality that motivates the players. She truly has what it takes to be successful at this level and will be a valuable addition to our coaching staff.
Said Jerro: “I’m extremely excited and grateful to be part of the Highlander family. I’ve learned so much from Coach McKeon throughout my career as a player and a coach. Having the chance to reunite with Coach McKeon, and to work with Coach (Gabrielle) Butler and Coach (Siobhan) Kilkenny toward building something special here at NJIT is a blessing and an awesome opportunity.
“I hope that with the enthusiasm I have for teaching and mentoring young people through the game of basketball, I will be able to make a positive impact on this program.”
Jerro’s primary on-court focus will be working with the NJIT guards, although she will also assist with the post players. She will also serve as recruiting coordinator, a role she also filled at UNLV.
