Former player, Dennis now leading B-L back to the top

Batesburg-Leesville girls basketball coach Jessica Dennis knew a breakout season was on the horizon for her team, but she’s surprised it came this year.

The Panthers went 22-3, won the Region 5-2A title, were ranked as high as No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll before losing to eventual state champion Mullins in the Lower State championship. It was Batesburg-Leesville’s first trip to the state semifinals since Dennis (formerly Barr) was there as a player in the 1980s.

The breakthrough year helped Dennis earn The State’s Midlands Girls Basketball Coach of the Year honors.

“I didn’t expect us to do it this year. I was thinking next year, maybe,” Dennis said. “But we did it. It felt so good. It is unbelievable, and they worked hard for everything we got and reaped the benefits.”

This might not be a one-year wonder for the Panthers. B-L will return several players next year, including all-region pick Sabronna Gantt and all-state selection MyLasia Gates.

Dennis said the team’s turning point might have happened during the Hilton Head Seahawk Christmas Tournament. The Panthers went 1-2, but held their own against bigger schools from Tennessee and Georgia.

“I told them, ‘You just played the cream of the crop, and we didn’t play that bad,’ ” Dennis said. “So that gave us confidence.”

A season like this is what Dennis hoped for when she took over at her alma mater 17 years ago and were the norm when she was a player. She was part of two Panthers’ state runner-up squads under coach Jimmy Hoover in 1985 and 1988 and was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in her senior season in 1989 before going on to a stellar college career.

Dennis signed to play at Georgia before transferring to Clemson and became one of the top players in school history. She was the ACC Player of the Year as a senior in 1993-94, led the conference in scoring and helped the Tigers to an NCAA Tournament berth.

In 2000, Dennis was named to the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame and selected to the ACC’s 50-Year Anniversary Team in 2003. In 2009, she was named an ACC legend and was recognized at the ACC Tournament.

After Clemson, Dennis played overseas in Portugal, Taiwan, Germany and Israel before ending her playing career and coming back to the Midlands.

“I was in Portugal and they had a bad storm. I said, ‘Lord, if you get me home, I’m not coming back over here,’ ” Dennis said. “That’s how I ended back in Batesburg, and I’m glad to be back and coaching basketball.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Former player, Dennis now leading B-L back to the top."