Mount Saint Mary Athletics Hall of Fame
Jen Mocanu enters the Mount Saint Mary Hall of Fame after putting together two of the finest seasons for the storied Mount Saint Mary Women's Basketball on record.
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After playing two seasons at Skyline Conference rival Mount Saint Vincent, Mocanu came to Newburgh and put together a memorable resume. During the 2010-11 season, her first at the Mount, she was named First Team All-Skyline Conference and Second Team All-Met Writers while also earning Skyline Conference Championship Most Outstanding Player accolades.
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Mocanu led the Mount to the Skyline Conference title in her first year with the Knights and the team went on to score a First Round NCAA Tournament victory. Mocanu added a single season record for free-throw percentage in 2010-11, converting 82.3-percent of her attempts from the free-throw line.
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A season later as a senior, Mocanu against guided the Mount to the Skyline Conference crown and a victory in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Her impressive resume continued to grow with Skyline Conference Player of the Year, D3Hoops.com First Team All-Atlantic Region and First Team All-Met honors.
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Over her four-year career, Mocanu totaled better than 1,500 points, registering her 1,000th career point on November 15, 2011 against New Paltz and her 1,500th career point on March 3, 2012 against Lebanon Valley. In her two seasons in Newburgh, Mocanu averaged nearly 16 points per game.
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Mocanu recalls being nationally ranked, conference championships and NCAA Tournament wins as some of her proudest moments as a Knight, as well as being one of the top defensive units in the country.
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Some of her best memories included spending times with teammates both on and off the floor and being pushed by head coach Randy Ognibene. "He was (and still is) one of the most influential people I have ever met and the feeling of playing on his team is one that will always be burned into my memory. He taught us to work hard and to strive for greatness, always."
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Stated Mocanu, "Being a student-athlete positively influenced my life in so many ways. I learned how to be a part of something bigger than myself and how to be held accountable for my actions. Being a student- athlete opened up the door for me to play basketball overseas, which was always a dream of mine."
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"I believe that being a student-athlete, especially in college, is so important because your sport provides you with a family that you can rely on and memories with those people that you will cherish for a lifetime. I haven't spoken to most of my teammates in a long time but I know that we will always have Mount basketball and the memories we made playing for Randy Ognibene and Lou Brummel."
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Mocanu continued playing basketball in Germany following her graduation from the Mount and spent better than five years playing basketball and better than six years overseas. While in Germany, Mocanu continued her education and earned her Master's in Organizational/Industrial Psychology at Steinbeis Hochschule in Berlin.
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Mocanu moved back to her native New Jersey in 2019 to pursue a career in Law Enforcement. She attended Ocean County Police Academy and graduated in 2020 and was hired as a Police Officer in Stafford Township.
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Mocanu graduated from the Mount in 2012 with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology.Â