by BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Jessie Stomski Seim had an interesting choice of words to describe her state of being when she became a member of the Wisconsin women’s basketball program in 1998.
“Rough around the edges,” she said.
Stomski Seim was an elite recruit out of Oakdale, Minnesota, one of the premier front-court talents in the country and one of the top 50 prospects overall.
Over the next four years, Stomski Seim established herself as one of the best players in UW history, ranking in the top five all-time in almost every meaningful statistical category for her position. She’s second in rebounding and double-doubles, third in scoring and minutes played, fourth in field-goal percentage and fifth in scoring average per game.
Stomski Seim was the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 1999, an all-Big Ten first-team selection in 2001 and ’02 and was voted most valuable player for the Badgers as a junior and senior before embarking on a career in the pros.
It’s a resume that explains why Stomski Seim is part of an 11-person class that will be inducted in the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in September.
She’s the third product of the Jane Albright coaching era to be so honored, joining center Barb Franke (2005) and guard Tamara Moore (2017).
Albright, the UW coach from 1994 to 2004, agreed that Stomski Seim, a 6-foot-3, left-handed-shooting power forward, came to Madison with edges that needed to be smoothed down. She was headstrong, rambunctious, stat-driven and probably too smart at times for her own good.
“But she did get it figured out,” Albright said
So much so that now, nearly two decades later, Albright and Stomski Seim are so close that Albright spoke at her wedding and said she regards her as her daughter.
“She’s a special one,” Albright said. “She gave me joy.”
Stomski Seim is now a lawyer living in Stillwater, Minn., married for 13 years to Kevin and a mother to 7-year-old Sloan and 5-year-old Sasha.
“I feel like that’s an honor that she sees me that way because I see her as one of the most formative figures in my life,” Stomski Seim said of Albright. “I’m warmed by that. I still have a close relationship with her. She’s fantastic.”
Stomski Seim said there’s a reason why dozens of former UW players congregate whenever possible to spend time with Albright. Such was the case in October of 2018 when her plaque was unveiled as part of the Kohl Center Legends Walk. Same goes for the 20-year reunion of the 1999-2000 club that won the Women’s National Invitational Tournament title, which was staged last year.
“We all see the value that she had in our lives and not just on the court,” Stomski Seim said. “Not only was Jane the coach on the floor, she helped through everything a young person who’s rough around the edges would go through when they’re 18 to 20 years old.”
It’s hard to imagine any student-athlete showing up to compete for an NCAA Division I sports program perfectly formed physically or mentally. There are lessons to be learned, mistakes to be made, relationships to cultivate, failures to endure, success to handle and stresses to navigate.
Having the right guide can make all the difference. Albright was that person for Stomski Seim.
“She set expectations for me and she always instilled that she believed that I could meet them,” she said of Albright. “She was very good at instilling in me what she knew I could do as a person and as a player. You start to hear that enough from someone you admire and you start to believe it.
“I was always honest with her even when that was hard and I always knew that she loved me and she didn’t judge me on the circumstances that I came from. She believed in my potential.”
Stomski Seim is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, the fourth-largest Native American tribe in the U.S. Her late father, Terry, moved with his family from Oklahoma to Wausau, Wisconsin, then to Oakdale, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn. That’s where Jessie and her brother Anthony were raised by Terry and their mother Jeanie Marquardt.
Stomski Seim said her father grew up poor. Her upbringing wasn’t as dire, she said, but she acknowledged being “a wild kid, a wild girl” while attending Tartan High School. She was an all-state honoree in volleyball and track as well as basketball, but also had multiple instances where she violated team rules regarding alcohol and behavior. She had similar issues at UW.
Stomski Seim can joke about it now. Asked how she felt when Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin director of athletics, called her with the news of her nomination, she laughed softly.
“I thought I was in trouble,” she said. “I reverted back to being 20 years old at the U and Barry’s calling me and I’m like, ‘What did I do?'”
Of course, the call was totally upbeat.
“I was very happy to hear his voice and get the news,” Stomski Seim said. “It’s super exciting.”
Stomski Seim said being a student-athlete at UW changed the trajectory of her life. She had a love of sports growing up, something she shared with her father. They were huge fans of the legendary Jim Thorpe, an Oklahoma native, a member of the Sac and Fox tribe and the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal.
That passion for sports opened doors for Stomski Seim, who had all the top women’s basketball programs pursuing her.
“I started to see a world that I had no idea was there and opportunities that I had no idea were there,” she said. “Nobody in my family went to college. Sports made that an option for me.”
Albright outlined the unusual approach she took to recruiting Stomski Seim. She flew to the Twin Cities to watch Stomski Seim play volleyball, then stopped by her house for an official in-home visit.
Albright said she walked in, noticed Stomski Seim slumped in a chair with a bored look on her face, and proceeded to say hello to everyone and bid them all an almost instant good bye.
“You don’t have a presentation?” Stomski Seim asked.
“Nope,” Albright recalled. “Just wanted to say hello.”
According to Albright, Stomski Seim perked up, but Albright left for home.
“She was sick of it,” Albright said of the recruiting process. “She hated all of it.”
Stomski Seim promptly called to schedule a campus visit. When she came to Madison, Albright said she let Stomski Seim sleep in before commencing with the informational tour.
Albright’s pitch for Stomski Seim, whom she called “off the charts smart,” was direct and fruitful.
“I’ll love you and I’ll treat you like you’re supposed to be treated,” she said. “That’s what I told her mom.”
Ultimately Stomski Seim signed with the Badgers in part because Moore, a fellow Minnesotan and AAU teammate, was already in the fold.
“Every place has a vibe, an energy,” Stomski Seim said. “The one at Madison was great for me.”
Stomski Seim scored 1,915 points (15.57 per game) and pulled down 961 rebounds (7.81 per game) in 123 career outings at Wisconsin. She surpassed double figures in scoring in 105 games and finished with 37 double-doubles. Her style was not delicate. She liked to bang with opponents in the low post and reveled in pushing people around.
“I liked to be physical and play hard,” she said.
“She gave us everything she could on the basketball court,” Albright said. “She delivered in ways that should make anyone at the University of Wisconsin proud.”
The Badgers played in back-to-back WNITs — winning in 2000 — and advanced to the NCAA tournament twice during Stomski Seim’s career while finishing 76-48 overall.
Albright remembered the home season-opener when Stomski Seim was a freshman. Albright said she started an upperclassman at center because she felt a sense of loyalty to the veteran. When Stomski Seim finally checked into the game, she called out to Albright and smiled as if to say, “This won’t happen be happening again.”
Terry Stomski was a regular at UW games and bonded with Albright. He saw his daughter become the first member of her family to earn a college degree. He wanted her to become a lawyer, but he died of brain cancer when Jessie was in her third year at William Mitchell College of Law in Minneapolis.
“He wasn’t the most educated man,” Jessie said, “but he was a really special character and larger than life.”
Stomski Seim and her brother cared for Terry during his final days. It was a lesson in commitment and perseverance that lives on today.
“That was a very powerful thing for me,” she said.
Stomski Seim has been a lawyer for 12 years, the last five as general counsel for the Prairie Island Indian Community in Welch, Minn. She oversees all governmental and commercial legal matters. She advises the Tribal Council and each of the tribe’s departments — police, family services, human resources — and is heavily involved in government-to-government matters on the federal, state, intertribal and local levels. She also represents the tribe in matters related to existing businesses, including the Treasure Island Resort & Casino.
“It’s what I’m passionate about,” Stomski Seim said, adding that she’s “very proud” of her heritage and to be working on behalf of Indian affairs.
The plight of Native Americans in the U.S. is long standing. Inadequate health care and education, unemployment and poverty, domestic violence and land disputes are among the most prominent issues facing the 567 tribes recognized by the federal government.
Stomski Seim said she sees the effects of “generational trauma” in her work all the time. Twenty years after she found a path to a better life she knows opportunities like hers are depressingly rare. That’s why she’s hoping people — a young athlete just starting high school, perhaps — will read about her journey and perhaps be inspired.
“I realized my potential on and off the court,” Stomski Seim said. “Every lesson, every experience as a college athlete and a professional athlete after that has shaped where I’m at today both professionally and personally.”
Stomski Seim played alongside three others who finished among the top 20 scorers in program history, including LaTonya Sims (sixth), Moore (seventh) and Kelley Paulus (20th).
“We all had a shared experience together,” Stomski Seim said. “We all did hard things together. We all had losses and struggles and we all had victories together. They are just as much responsible for my success, completely.
“I ended up being at the right place and I’m so grateful to be a Badger.”
