PISCATAWAY, N.J. – It was always Jillian Huerter's destiny to play college basketball. There was never a question or a doubt. She always knew she would follow in her family's footsteps of playing at the next level.  

As the youngest of four siblings, Huerter has watched her brothers and sister all take the next step after high school. Her brother Thomas played at both Siena and Catholic College, her brother Kevin competed at Maryland and her sister Meghan is currently at Albany while previously playing at Providence.  

"Watching my siblings compete in college definitely inspired me a lot," Huerter said. "Seeing them all play at their respective colleges and seeing all their experiences made me want to play even more at the college level." 

However, Huerter's life still revolved around basketball way before college hoops came into the picture. Some of her earliest memories involve a basketball in her hand and her family close by.  

"My earliest basketball memory is actually scoring my first basket," Huerter explained. "I was playing up [in the next age group] with my sister, who was a year older than me. The baskets were lowered to around eight feet, but I still couldn't reach it, so in our last game our coach lifted me up so I could drop in a basket." 

From there on, she spent her free time in various gyms watching her siblings or playing pickup in her Clifton Park, New York driveway. Being the youngest in her family, she was able to soak up all the knowledge from countless games in addition to always being challenged and pushed by her family. 

Huerter built a special relationship with her older brother Kevin, who also played in the Big Ten at Maryland. After a successful career in College Park, where he was a 2018 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, he was selected 19th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.  

In the whirlwind period of Kevin deciding if he would forgo his last two years of eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft, Huerter was there supporting her brother every step of the process. 

"The draft was a lot of fun," Huerter added. "I feel like I still didn't fully understand what was happening while it was going on, but now looking back thinking my brother was picked 19th overall in the NBA draft, just how proud I am of him and how it was such a cool thing to be a part of." 

With Kevin now suiting up for the Sacramento Kings, the time zone change hasn't stopped Huerter from watching his games and keeping in touch.  

Over the summer, members of the Rutgers women's basketball team even took a trip along with Huerter and her family, to New York, to watch Kevin compete as the Kings played the Brooklyn Nets. Huerter her family also went to the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend, cheering on Kevin as he took part in the 3-point contest.  

"I watch every single one of his games," Huerter said. "He tries to watch a lot of mine but he has a long schedule and plays a lot more games than I do. But we definitely talk about basketball a lot, but not just basketball, you know. I'm very close still with all my siblings and we talk all the time." 

It hasn't been just Huerter's siblings who have helped her get to where she is today, her father, Tom, played collegiate basketball at Siena from 1987-91.   

Her father helped the Saints to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in addition to a first-round win over No. 3-seeded Stanford.  

"My dad has been one of the biggest factors in my basketball career," said Huerter. "He coached me almost all throughout my playing career up until my last year of AAU. He was the one driving us to the gym and teaching us how to shoot and making sure we were getting all our shots and dribbling in. He was definitely a huge part of my basketball career." 

 

Huerter's strong connection to family is one of the things that attracted her to Rutgers. Being around a big, close-knit family her whole life, she knew she wanted to mirror that where she went on to continue her basketball career.  

Along with a family atmosphere, Huerter was looking to check off another important point of her list, winning.  

"A big part of why I chose Rutgers was because of our coaching staff," Huerter said. "You just know that they're winners. They're going to continue to make this a winning program and I loved that the school had everything you could possibly need to make it happen. The girls on the team also just welcomed me like family." 

Eager to join the Scarlet Knights early, Huerter left her extra year of high school behind to meet the team in January of 2023 for the start of the second semester.  

Although it was hard for her to step away from the family environment, she had known her whole life in New York, Huerter has already found a second home "On The Banks".  

"I think [the decision to join the team early] has been a huge benefit already," added Huerter. "We make jokes among the team that I'm already a vet or I'm a sophomore when I haven't even played in the game yet, but just being able to go through practices, be on the bench for games and be in the moment without having played in the games, I think that was a huge step and helped in my development at this next level."