Jenny (Reisener) Evans

The foundation for Jenny’s basketball successes was the Kiwis Basketball Club in Cairns. It was as a player with Kiwis that Jenny was selected to represent Queensland at the 1983 Australian Under 18 Championships in Newcastle and at the 1984 Australian Under 18 Championships in Adelaide.

In 1985 Jenny represented Queensland at the Australian Under 20 Championships in Sydney and won a basketball scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport.

During her three years at the AIS from 1985 to 1987, the highlights of Jenny’s junior basketball career included captaining the AIS/Australia team at the 1985 Oceania Championships and winning the gold medal against Fiji; participating as court co-captain in the Australian Junior Women’s team tour of China in 1986 and touring the United States with the AIS team with a 9-2 win/loss record against top college teams in 1987.

During these years, Jenny represented Australia 16 times at every junior international basketball tournament or event for which she was age eligible.

Because of her performances with the AIS teams, including her representing Australia 16 times as a member of Australian junior teams, in 1988 Jenny Reisener was recruited by the Perth Breakers into the WNBL.

During her 136-game playing career in the Women’s National Basketball League, Jenny played for the AIS (1985 to 1987), Perth (1988 and 1989), Bankstown Bruins (1990) and Brisbane Blazers (1995 to 1998).

Jenny Reisener was a member of the Opals squad from 1988 until 1990. Her 48-game career with the Opals included the 1989 tours of Japan and the United States and the 1989 FIBA Oceania Tournament; the 1990 tour of Europe in preparation for the 1990 FIBA World Cup; the1990 Seoul Goodwill Tournament and the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle USA.

The highlight of Jenny’s international career with the Opals was the1990 FIBA World Championships in Malaysia in which Australia finished in sixth place.

During her four years break from the WNBL between 1991 and 1995, Jenny continued to play basketball for Queensland clubs within the ABA. Jenny played for the Cairns Dolphins in 1994, who won the Queensland Basketball League Championships. As a member of the Dolphins Jenny was selected in the 1994 ABA All-Star 5 and was named as the 1994 ABA Australian Player of the Year.

Jenny’s playing career included 136 games within the Women’s National Basketball League, with 48 games as a Queensland AIS scholarship holder and 41 games with the Brisbane Blazers.  It included  64 games Australian representation with 16 games as a junior player and 48 games as an Opal. The 1989 FIBA Oceania Championships and the 1990 FIBA World Championships were the highlights of Jenny’s career.  

Jenny (Reisener) Evans’ playing career exemplifies excellence and exceptionality. She is a most worthy inductee into the Queensland Basketball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2024.