As a Central Illinois product, Jeni Garber is certainly no stranger to Bradley University or Peoria, for that matter.
An Illinois Central College graduate and Metamora, Ill., native, Garber begins her 12th season at Bradley and 13th year overall working with head coach Paula Buscher.
The longest tenured assistant coach in program history, Garber helped the Braves to the first postseason appearance in program history in 2009-10 and the most victories in program history in 2008-09.
The 2009-10 season culminated in the first postseason bid in program history after the Braves received a spot in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational after tying for third in the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley finished the year with a 17-14 overall record and tied a school record with 12 conference wins. The Braves defeated Big East Conference foe Louisville in the Cardinals' final game at historic Freedom Hall. Louisville, which advanced to the 2008-09 NCAA Championship game, owned a 129-23 (.849) record at Freedom Hall since the start of the 1998-99 season. Bradley's season came to an end in the WBI quarterfinals with a loss at College of Charleston.
Bradley finished with a school-record 21 victories during the 2008-09 season and posted the best conference finish since the 1991-92 campaign. The 2008-09 Braves matched a school record 12 home victories despite playing all of their home games at Illinois Central College's Lorene Ramsey Gym in East Peoria. In addition, the Braves advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1997 and just the second time in program history.
The 2004-05 team, which included Garber and head coach Paula Buscher's first recruiting class, finished with a 15-13 overall record.
In 2001-02 Garber helped guide Bradley to its best campaign since the 1996-97, as the Braves finished the season with a 16-12 record. In addition, BU has posted the longest winning streak in school history (nine games) during her time on The Hilltop.
Bradley boasts four first-team all-conference picks, a pair of MVC Defensive Player of the Year honorees, the 2001-02 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and six MVC All-Freshman team selections during Garber's time with the Braves.
Garber helped recruit first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference pick Dena Williams, who went on to become Bradley's career leader in rebounds and blocked shots in addition to Genny Mueller, who is the Braves all-time leader in three-point field goals. In addition to helping bring 2007-08 MVC Defensive Player of the Year Skye Johnson to The Hilltop, Garber has also assisted with the recruitment of five players who went on to earn MVC All-Freshman team honors.
She also handles scheduling for the Braves and assists with the scouting duties.
Garber's connection with Bradley came long before the opportunity to coach on The Hilltop ever arose, however. Garber's father, Bob, played on both the basketball and baseball teams at Bradley from 1945 to 1949. He appeared in 111 basketball games and scored 509 points during his career.
Basketball runs in the family, as Jeni's brother Steve was named head coach at perennial power Illinois Central College in the summer of 2003 after serving six years as assistant coach under Bradley grad and coaching legend Lorene Ramsey.
As a prepster, Garber averaged 26.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game her senior season at Metamora High School. She garnered team MVP honors three times and earned all-state honors as a senior.
A 1988 graduate of Illinois Central College, Garber was a two-time letterwinner and team captain. During her sophomore campaign, Garber earned second team NJCAA All-American honors in basketball, while also lettering in softball, earning NJCAA National Tournament Team honors.
Garber then moved on to Virginia Tech where she was named to the Metro Conference All-Rookie team as a junior and a second team all-conference selection as a senior. The leading scorer for the Hokies in 1990-91, Garber served as the team captain during her senior season.
Embarking on her coaching career, Garber was a graduate assistant at East Tennessee State (1991-93), where she earned a masters of science degree in education in 1993.
Garber then joined the staff at Missouri, where she served as an assistant coach from 1993 to 1997, before leaving to join Buscher's staff at Minnesota State-Mankato for the 1997-98 season.
After one year at Minnesota State-Mankato, Garber decided to return to Central Illinois and took over the head coaching duties at Normal West High School, where her teams posted back-to-back 19 win seasons in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.