FAIRMONT —
From Barrackville to Chapel Hill.
Former North Marion standout and North Carolina University Tar Heel star Jessica Sell has had a basketball career that is tough to fathom.
At North Marion, Sell was a dynamic threat. She could make passes, drill needed baskets, penetrate the hole and play defense.
In basketball terms, Sell was a player who played with ice in her veins.
“At North Marion, I kind of did it all — I was a point guard to a forward,” Sell said. “At North Carolina, they used me more as a shooting guard. They let me handle the ball some early in my career, and after ankle surgery and a few other ailments, I was a specialty behind the three-point mark at North Carolina.”
Although she was a three-point specialist for the Tar Heels, at North she was able to do what nobody else had done — lead the team to a state championship opportunity.
Her legacy is what put Rachel on the map, and her play opened the doors for other female athletes to follow in her footsteps.
The legacy she wrote began and ended with greatness. She was named West Virginia Player of the Year; Gatorade State Player of the Year as a senior; McDonald’s Top 100 All-American nominee; WBCA All-America nominee; and owns her school’s scoring and rebounding records for male and female players.
Sell ranked 61st on the All-Star Girls Report list of prospects for the Class of 2002; First-Team All-State as a junior and senior; and was the Most Outstanding Player at the 2000-01 Beach Ball Classic Holiday Tournament in Myrtle Beach.
Although she had numerous awards and was also a National Honor Society 4.0 student, her fondest memory of her high school career is playing for a state championship.
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Photo Illustration by Ted Sawyer
Tradition of excellence
Jessica Sell helped put North Marion basketball on the map
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