Staff Directory
- Title:
- Executive Associate Athletics Director for Sports Administration & Senior Woman Administrator (SWA)
ADMINISTRATOR–Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer
- Email:
- Phone:
- (773) 325-4034
After 12 years as an assistant director in DePaul’s Athletic Academic Advising Office, Jill Hollembeak was promoted to Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Women's Administrator in July 2017. Hollembeak, a former world-class, Hall of Fame gymnast, brings knowledge of the student-athlete life and academic success to Blue Demon students.
Hollembeak currently serves as the sport administrator for women's basketball and women's soccer and has previously served as the sport administrator for men's and women's track and field, volleyball, men's soccer, women's tennis and softball.
Additionally, Hollembeak serves on the NCAA Olympic and Paralympic Sports Liaison committee as well as the Team Alpha Committee under the DePaul University Vision 2020 Strategic Plan. Most recently in the spring of 2020, Hollembeak raised her hand to be on the DePaul Athletics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee serving on the Hiring and Retention subcommittee.
Under Hollembeak’s direction, women's basketball was recognized for 12-straight years for its Academic Performance Rate (APR), which scored in the top 10 percent of all women’s basketball teams in the nation. The program is one of 93 teams from all sports that have earned the recognition in every year of the program.
In 2017, Brooke Schulte was selected to the Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athletes Team and was the winner of the ADA postgraduate scholarship. Working with Hollembreak, Schulte carried a 3.676 grade-point average majoring in Health Sciences with a minor in Psychology and Biological Sciences. Schulte was also the BIG EAST Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Also, Jessica January was named Co-SIDA Academic All-America First Team, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Communications and Public Relations & Advertising and finished her four years at DePaul with all A's and one B. She is among the national finalists for the NCAA's prestigious Woman of the Year Award.
Hollembeak worked directly with the DePaul women’s basketball program, and helped the Blue Demons to a program-best 3.604 GPA in 2011-12. DePaul’s 2011-12 GPA was up from 3.582 a year ago, while both the team’s 2011-12 and 2010-11 cumulative GPA ranked No. 3 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Team Academic Poll.
The Blue Demons cracked the poll’s top 10 in 2009- 10 with their 3.455 GPA which at the time set a new academic standard. The Blue Demons ranked No. 11 in 2009-10 as well as in 2005-06 season – Hollembeak’s first year with the program. In 2008, the team’s GPA was the 26th best in the country while the 2007 team was ranked No. 25.
Hollembeak joined Blue Demon staff in 2005-06. Since then, nearly 100 women’s basketball student-athletes have been named to the BIG EAST Conference All-Academic Team, while nine student-athletes have earned I-AAA Scholar- Athlete recognition.
Allie Quigley (2004-08) earned ESPN the Magazine All-District honors three times, while Quigley and Jenna Rubino were honored as the BIG EAST Conference/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Felicia Chester joined Quigley as an ESPN the Magazine All-District selection in 2009-10. Chester along with Sam Quigley earned All-District honors in 2010-11.
In 2013, Hollembeak was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2011, Hollembeak was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame after winning six world tumbling championships. Her USA Gymnastics induction followed her 2010 induction as a “World Acrobatic Legend” by the World Acrobatic Society.
Hollembeak made her first impact on the gymnastics world by capturing the 1982 World Tumbling Championship in the Senior Women’s Division at the age of 14 in Bozeman, Mont. Hollembeak went on to win subsequent world titles in 1984 in Osaka, Japan and 1986 in Paris, along with 11 national titles in power tumbling and platform tumbling.
A two-time Academic All-American and an NCAA qualifier in gymnastics at Illinois State, Hollembeak graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Recreation. She later earned a 4.0 GPA and completed a Masters in Sports Psychology from Illinois State in 2003. Hollembeak earned her PhD in Education at DePaul.
