UMass' Lilly earns rave reviews for her off-the-court performance - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

LOWELL -- More often than not, this page is packed with storiesof athletes who can out-shoot, out-jump, out-throw, out-run andout-catch most of their peers.

This story is different. But, at the same time, it is asimportant as any of those other kind. To some, maybe even moreimportant.

By her own admission, in her four seasons with the UMass-Lowellwomen's basketball team, Jennifer Lilly didn't set the world on fire.A shooting guard from Rowley, Lilly never got her scoring averagehigher than 2.4 points a game. 'I'm just an average basketballplayer,'she said.

As a player, maybe. As a student-athlete, definitely not.She stood out among the crowd. Despite her 5-foot-5-inch height.

Lilly, a Triton High graduate, was one who never hesitated togive of her time. And she never looked around to ask what was in itfor her. And she never held her hand out looking for the dollarbills. Rarities in this day and age.

It was that reason -- her unselfishness in giving of her time tohelp others -- that Lilly, a Dean's List industrial management major,was recently bestowed with UMass-Lowell's second annual David J.Boutin Award as the college's excellence banquet.

The award, named after a former UMass-Lowell baseball catcherwho passed away in September 1990 following a courageous fightagainst cancer, is for a student-athlete who made significantcontributions to the college -- not just with their athleticparticipation -- and for someone active in the community.

'Last year was the first year for the award,' Lilly said. 'Iknew of David, but we really weren't great friends, but I understandfrom everyone who knew him well that he was a great guy. To me,getting the award is quite an honor, a tremendous privilege.

'I've never won an award for basketball, but this means muchmore than an award for playing a sport could ever mean,' she added.'This touches on things having to do besides basketball.'

Let's start with her tutoring of her teammates, players on theschool's men's basketball team, as well as her friends in and out ofsports. It is something she has done since she first appeared as astudent on campus in 1987.

'It's nothing really formal,' Lilly insisted. 'And it'ssomething that I can really tell you how many hours a week I spenddoing. People just say `Jen knows that. She'll help you' and I do.And it's something I would never accept money for.'

She's also been involved with the Greater Lowell SpecialOlympics for the last two years. 'They needed people and I thought Iwould help out,' said Lilly, who has an uncle who has mentalretardation. 'Plus it's great for the kids. But I don't look atthem as anyone different. I look as the kids and say they're people.There's nothing different about them.'

When she thought about it more, she went to Dana Skinner,UMass-Lowell assistant athletic director, asking if he would mind ifher teammates could get involved as well. He didn't mind in theleast, of course.

'I think nearly all of the players on our basketball team haveparticipated over the last two years,' said Lilly of the once-a-yearvolunteer work.

Her work as a member of the student advisory council within theathletic department is also something special to Lilly. Again, thisis something she has been part of for the last two years. 'Each teamselects a representative to meet two or three times a year to addressproblems athletes might be having of one sort or another,' Lillysaid.

Because she has had a 3.6 cumulative grade point average in heryears at Lowell, other doors have opened for Lilly. She's a memberof three non-sports organizations that tie together her major withthe business world, whether in the Greater Lowell area or outside.

As a basketball player, Lilly wasn't good enough to play for theteam during the her first year, 1987-88. She practiced with the teamthat season and videotaped the games. But she worked at her game, acouple of hours on her own six days at week.

She found her niche in shooting three-pointers, hitting on eightof 24 she attempted this season and 34 of 97 in her career.

'After my first year on the team, coach {Kathy O'Neil} asked mewhy I didn't shoot three-pointers, so I started practicing the shot,'said Lilly, whose best game might have been her final home game, onFeb. 22 vs. Southern Connecticut when she scored 16 points, going 6for 9 from the field, including making 4 of 5 three-pointers.

It was her only start as a collegian, but she'll never forgetit, just as so many on the UMass-Lowell campus will not forgetJennifer Lilly and what she meant to them.