Revisiting Rams: Women’s Basketball’s Jenni-Rose DiCecco ’22

BOSTON – Jenni-Rose DiCecco '22 is the most decorated Suffolk women's basketball player in program history. Over a five-year career as a Ram the floor general rewrote the program's records in scoring, assists, steals and field goals made. Her resume features 2021-22 CCC Defensive Player of the Year, three all-region nods and four all-league accolades.  

GoSuffolkRams.com recently caught up the with the Rams' future Hall of Famer. 

Since Suffolk, you’ve moved into the work field. Could you describe your current occupation, what company you work for and the role you have?
I am starting my position as the Assistant Coach for Emerson Women’s Basketball this upcoming 2023-2024 season. Along with my position at Emerson College, I also work for the Boston Celtics as an Assistant Coach for their JCA Youth Development programming. I never wanted to stop playing basketball and although coaching is taking a little getting used to, it allows me to continue being a part of something I truly love which is basketball.

How did you land your job?
Everything happens for a reason. I realized after I graduated that I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do so I decided to apply myself to different sectors of the working world. As I did this, doors started to open up and I just said yes to everything. This allowed me to not only gain experience, but it also gave me the guidance I needed to realize exactly what I wanted to do in the future.

Is this your dream job?
As I mentioned, when I graduated I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do and to be honest I still don’t exactly know, but I do know that being around basketball and be a part of forming the next generation of basketball players with the Celtics has given me a sense of accomplishment. I want to change as many people’s lives as I possibly can throughout my life and I think not only coaching basketball, but life lessons as well, is a step in the right direction.

Describe your typical day.
My days are different every day, which is exactly what I love about what I do. No day is the same. Although I wake up having the gist of what my day is going to consist of, my days don’t typically stay on track with that. Some days are slower than others, but every day I wake up eager to tackle the opportunity both Emerson and the Celtics give me.

What’s the most surprising part of your job?
With the Boston Celtics, the age frame is quite large it can be from 3rd grade to 9th grade. If you ask any of my family members they would say no way would I be working with children. I’ve never been much of a kid person, but coaching kids is a lot different and although it can be exhausting it is something I enjoy and that has most certainly surprised me. 

What’s the biggest perk of your job?
I get to be a part of changing the lives of those who are going through what I went through. Whether that is through my work with the Celtics or with Emerson College. I am able to use my experience and knowledge to help these kids and college students tackle sports, life and growing up. 

What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my basketball career, not only at Suffolk but throughout my whole life. I think my most proud moment was walking off the Suffolk basketball court for the last time and hugging my mom and dad. They have been my biggest supporters throughout my whole career and in that moment I felt sad that my career was over, but also proud that I was able to do great things with my career. I’m not talking about the record breaking or the accolades, I’m proud of the leader I became both on and off the court through the hard work I put in.

What is your favorite memory at work?
With the Celtics, we have several weeks of camps and lots of different campers each week. One week this summer we had our first all-girls camp. At the end of the camp as we were debriefing with the campers we asked them to say one word that encapsulated their experience the past week. As we went around the circle the girls said words like empowered, heard, safe, uplifted and grateful. Hearing these words from these young girls gave me chills. This was the first time I truly realized the difference we were making in these girls lives. We as coaches were uplifting, empowering and giving these girls a safe space to express who they truly are. It was life changing.

How did Suffolk prepare you for your role?
I came ready to play when I decided to come to Suffolk. Coach Leyden was one of the best supporters throughout my career at Suffolk. We had mutual respect for each other and always had a communicative relationship which helped us win games. I think the support and confidence Coach had in me as a player gave me the confidence to perform on the court.  

What’s your favorite Suffolk memory?
I would have to say beating Emmanuel College my freshman year. It was the GNAC semifinals and we notoriously had a record of falling short to Emmanuel and their Coach Andy. Some could say Emmanuel was our rival. It was at Emmanuel’s gym, the crowd was crazy, their team was a great team and we were the underdogs. We ended up beating them 73-68 on their own court during the conference tournament. I will never forget this game because it wasn’t easy for us and everything wasn’t really going our way. We weren’t getting any calls and Emmanuel was playing scrappy, but that didn’t matter. This game will go down in history as one of the best team wins I have ever been a part of. 

What advice do you have for current students?
My mom has always told me since I was young to take it all in. I never truly understood that until I revisited Suffolk’s basketball court as an alumni. I got chills throughout my whole body thinking about the memories I made and realized I should’ve just slowed down to take it all in. It seems as though you are enjoying it in the moment, but then one day you wake up and you’re graduated. You realize you are no longer a student-athlete and it’s a bittersweet feeling. Endure the ups and downs, but never let yourself get too high or too low because when you look back you will want to be able to say to yourself you took it all in.

What made you choose Suffolk?
In all honesty, I never had a dream school or a dream college career. Both my siblings went to colleges with traditional campuses and when I would visit them it was great, but it wasn’t my scene. I didn’t need the campus or the “college experience” in order to be happy. All I needed was a basketball, great teammates and a fast-paced environment to keep me busy. Suffolk gave me all of that. I was able to be the starting point guard, playing almost 40 minutes a game for five years with great teammates to lean on and a beautiful city to be a part of. Nothing gets better than that.

Outside of work/school, what is your life like? I.E. family, kids, what do you do for fun, etc?
I chose to stay around and live in Boston. I stay busy with work as well as making sure to go home to spend time with my family who lives on Cape Cod.

Are you a Suffolk Athletics alum who would like to revisit with Ram Nation? Contact Sports Information Director Amy Barry at abarry7@suffolk.edu.