Basketball Alumn Jess Gelman to be Inducted into New England Hall of Fame

Jess Gelman ’97, a four-time letterwinner for the Harvard women’s basketball, will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame Oct. 9 in a ceremony at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. Gelman, who played in every game of her career, was part of two Ivy League championship teams and is still involved with the program as member of the Friends of Harvard Basketball.

Gelman was a two-time All-Ivy League recipient, earning second-team honors in 1996 and first-team in 1997. She co-captained the team as a senior, helping the Crimson become the first Ivy League team, men or women, to go 14-0 in league play. Gelman broke the all-time assists record at Harvard in her final season and currently stands third on the list with 485 hand outs.

She is one of 13 Crimson women to score 1,000 career points. Gelman is 12th on the all-time list with 1,045 points. She received the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association Award as Harvard’s outstanding female athlete and went on to play for the Ramat-Hasharon Electra professional basketball team in
Israel.

Currently, Gelman is the director of new business development and operational Initiatives at The Kraft Sports Group. She leads the business development department, where she serves as a key strategic and operational advisor to the executive management team of the New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place.