More than one week after Jim Jabir left, Jennifer Sullivan was officially announced as the next women’s basketball head coach at FAU in a press release on Thursday.

With the announcement, Sullivan becomes the sixth women’s basketball head coach in FAU history since the program started in the 1984-85 season. She is also the third female to coach the program after Chancellor Dugan (1999-2012) and Kellie Lewis-Jay (2012-17).

Brian White, Vice President and Director of the Athletics department, said that Sullivan stood out throughout the searching process and he is excited to welcome her to the program.

“She brings a great deal of coaching experience and is clearly prepared for the opportunity to lead this program,” White said. “She’s a proven winner and recruiter. I was impressed by her incredible passion for the student-athlete experience and the amount of respect her peers have for her.” 

Sullivan thanked White and President John Kelly for their belief in her to lead the program.

“I had a great feeling for Brian’s vision for the athletic department, and I’m excited to be a part of it. The program is on the rise and I can’t wait to continue to build its success,” Sullivan said. “I’m looking forward to building a championship program here, and there is no better place to do that than here in Paradise.”

Sullivan has been coaching for 16 years as she last spent her time with the University of Tennessee, where she was the assistant coach for two seasons and recently helped them get to the NCAA tournament.

She will take over an Owls squad that made significant progress last season, finishing with an 11-11 overall record and appearing in their first C-USA quarterfinal.

Sullivan will officially be introduced as head coach in a press conference on Zoom at 3 p.m. The University Press will have a separate story on it after it concludes.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.