VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Photo Courtesy: UVM Athletic Communications

Randolph

Basketball

Inducted 2018

One of the state’s top high school guards from Randolph, Jen Niebling went on to a standout playing career for the record-setting UVM basketball program in the early 1990s before spending nearly two decades as a collegiate coach at all levels in the state.

At Randolph Union High she led the Galloping Ghosts to the 1988 Division II state title knocking off perennial power Oxbow. She would graduate as the school’s all-time scoring leader with 1,402 points and was named in 1997 to the Barre Times Argus ‘Dream Dozen’, as one of the state’s top 12 players in Vermont girls high school basketball history.  

She went on to UVM where she was a two-time all-conference guard and the heart and soul of two of the greatest women's basketball teams in school history. Niebling helped the Catamounts to a 57-2 record as a junior and senior. Her final two years included back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons (29-0, 28-0), America East Championships (then named the North Atlantic Conference) and UVM’s first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1992 and 1993. 

She was a two-time America East All-Conference player (first team in 1993, second team in 1992),  named to the All-Championship Team twice and was a member of the All-Rookie team in 1990. She was also a second-team All-ECAC selection in 1993. Niebling finished with 1,435 career points, second at the time on UVM's all-time scoring list. 

Niebling started her coaching career at the former Trinity College in Burlington, where she guided the Crusaders to a seventh place finish in the 1996 National Small College Athletic Association National Championship Tournament. She returned to UVM as an assistant coach for six seasons, helping guide the Catamounts to three America East regular season titles, an NCAA tournament appearance and a successful run in the 2002 WNIT. She went on to be the head coach at nearby Saint Michael’s College for 10 seasons and is currently the head coach at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona.

She was named to the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003, New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the VPA Hall of Fame in 2006.  In 1999, Sports Illustrated chose Niebling as one of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th Century, ranking 40th among the Top 50 Vermonters.