Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Jillianne Whitfield

Steve Virgen

Independence is the key to Jillianne Whitfield’s versatility. The

Newport Harbor High sophomore’s desire to be a unique individual and

learn on her own allows her to display her talents in every sport she

competes in. This winter, the three-sport athlete is illustrating her

self-confidence and maturity on the Sailors’ girls basketball team.

Whitfield’s ability to balance her alone-time and team-time has

resulted in much optimism for the Sailors. Her thirst for independence

has also brought upon an aggressive offensive game, which has made her an

important part of first-year coach Jen Thompson’s game plan.

“She’s really coming out of her shell,” Thompson said. “She’s becoming

more vocal, more vocal on the court and people respect her ability. She

will definitely help us over the next two years. It’s so nice to see her

improve. She’s improving week by week.”

Whitfield, the eldest of five siblings, displayed her improvement when

she helped provide the momentous victory that broke Newport’s 20-game Sea

View League losing streak. The Daily Pilot of the Week scored a

career-high 21 points, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and committed just

one turnover to lead the Sailors to a 46-44 win over visiting Aliso

Niguel Jan. 24.

She nailed two three-pointers and created her own shots because of her

newfound strength of ball handling. The basis of her improvement traces

back to independence, the reason why she loves basketball so much.

“I just like it,” said Whitfield, whose efforts helped the Newport

field hockey team win the Sunset League title in the fall. “You can

practice (basketball) with yourself. I can work on my own skills and I

don’t have to depend on anybody else to help me.”

Whitfield’s training method is similar to her practice for the

Sailors’ track and field team, where she finished second in the Sea View

League in the discus and third in the shot put.

“I just like working on things myself, so I don’t have to depend on

people,” Whitfield said. “(The throws) give me drive in everything else I

do, to do the best.”

Being the best hasn’t always been one of the reasons for Whitfield’s

love for sports. Whitfield, who has competed in Little League baseball,

youth soccer, basketball, field hockey, track and field, beach volleyball

and even trained in gymnastics when she was younger, plays sports for the

love of the game. Of course, she also plays for the competition. She

wants to be the best. It’s that desire that caused her peers to tease her

at a young age.

Whitfield’s opponents, or the other children, would call her a tomboy.

“I got tomboy quite often, but it didn’t bother me that much,”

Whitfield said. “The people who called me that were people who couldn’t

beat me, sometimes boys. I like playing against the boys because a lot of

the time, it’s more of a challenge.”

And Whitfield enjoys a challenge. When she began to realize her role

as a go-to shooter for the Sailors, Whitfield never succumbed to the

pressure. On the contrary, she thrived in the opportunity, adding sound

defense to her game.

“Her defensive skills have really improved, and her dribbling and her

court sense have gotten better,” Thompson said. “In the past she would

stop shooting after missing shots. You can see in her that it’s OK to

miss five shots. Just keep shooting. Her defense will lead us as well.

She’s one of our best defensive players.”

Whitfield said individual shooting sessions and ball handling drills

have been the reason for her rise this season.

“Last year, I had seven three-pointers overall, and I did more than

that in the Costa Mesa Classic alone,” Whitfield said. “Shooting-wise I

feel a lot better. I do think when I play point guard, I have more

control than last year. I wasn’t looking forward to playing the point

last year. I didn’t have the control that I got over the summer. I feel

comfortable now. I am totally ready to do that if they need me to.”