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Sandy Simpson has been a phenomenal leader for the UC Davis women's basketball program since his first season in 1997 when he led the Aggies to the NCAA Division II Final Four. It only seems fitting that he hired the point guard from that 1997 team to help him lead UC Davis into the Division I era. Recognized as one of the greatest players to ever don an Aggie uniform, Jennifer Gross returned to the UC Davis Women's Basketball program in 2004-05 to serve as the lead assistant for the Aggies. Enering her sixth year with her alma mater in 2009-10, Gross, who was promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2008, has established herself as one of the top offensive coaching minds on the west coast. As the program's offensive coordinator, she implemented a Princeton-style offense in 2004 which has helped the Aggies become an immediate force in the Big West Conference. Gross has worked hard to build the offense from the ground up. Using the fundamentals of sharp cuts, smart passes, and an unprecedented level of teamwork, the Aggies have been able to give opponents fits with their precision and execution. In 2007-08, the first official season of Division I play for UC Davis, the Aggies shot 43.5 percent from the floor, best in the Big West Conference and ranked No. 43 among all NCAA Division I teams. As the primary player development coach for the guards, Gross helped 2008 graduates Jessica Campbell and Heather Bates achieve All-Big West Conference awards during their senior seasons. Campbell, the Aggies leading scorer at 15.3 ppg, finished the 2007-08 season with impressive numbers, shooting 53.9 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from 3-point range, and 88.9 percent from the free throw line. Bates finished her final two seasons with 88 3-point field goals and averaged more than 11 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game. Guard Haylee Donaghe also earned All-Big West Conference honors during her sophomore season, averaging 12.3 ppg while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor. In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Gross has been the recruiting coordinator for the Aggies since her arrival in 2004. As a former three-year CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII honoree, Gross knows what it takes both athletically and academically to succeed at UC Davis. She was instrumental in the recruitment of all-conference sophomore Paige Mintun who led the Aggies in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals in 2008-09. Gross also took the lead in bringing in the talented freshmen class of 2008-09, which featured three consistent starters including Kasey Riecks and Lauren Juric. Both Riecks and Juric earned All-Big West honorable mention honors as well as All- Freshman Team accolades. Juric was also named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year for 2008-09.
Prior to returning to UC Davis, Gross spent two years as an assistant coach at San Diego State University (2002-2004). In addition, Gross gained valuable experience coaching at her high school alma mater, University City High School in San Diego. After two seasons as an assistant, she took over as head coach in 2000 guiding the Centurions to a 50-9 record in two years at the helm. In her four-year career at UCHS, the team won four straight Western League titles plus a pair of CIF-San Diego Section banners.
As a player from 1993-1997 at UC Davis, Gross set school records for career assists (448), steals (300) and three-pointers (163), the first of which still stands. Additionally, she continues to rank fifth all-time at UC Davis in career scoring, compiling 1,143 points.
As a senior, Gross led the Aggies to a school-record 29-3 mark and the school's first appearance at the Division II Elite Eight tournament. UC Davis finished third at the national tourney, beating Bentley (Mass.) in the consolation final. For her part, she won Kodak All-America honorable mention honors and was selected to the Northern California Athletic Conference first team for the second time. However, perhaps her finest achievement was her participation in 101 victories during her four-year career, the winningest span in program history. Gross graduated from UC Davis in 1997, earning her bachelor's degree in organizational studies. She earned her master's degree in Sports Coaching from the United States Sports Academy in 2008.
After her collegiate career, Gross went on to play professionally in Denmark (July 1997-Apr. 98) and Israel (July-Dec. 1998). She was inducted into the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
