A college basketball player’s schedule does not end when practice is over. There are classes to attend, papers to write, exams to prepare for and degree requirements to meet. Add team travel, workouts, meetings and games, and managing college life can become a demanding balancing act.
At Kent State University, Jana Ashley and Amy Densevich help make that balancing act manageable. Ashley, associate director of academic services, spends much of her time supporting the men’s basketball team. Densevich, associate athletics director for student-athlete support services, works with women’s basketball.
Their work helps players remain on track academically while giving coaches more time to focus on teaching and preparing their teams. It also provides student-athletes with someone to turn to when a class, a schedule or life outside basketball becomes difficult to navigate.
Ashley’s role follows players through the daily demands of the season. She helps them schedule classes, monitors academic progress, connects them with tutoring and communicates with professors when team travel means students will miss class.
“I need to make sure they're doing their work,” Ashley said. “We have study hall at home. I’m also on the road with them. I’m in the hotel. We do study hall on the road, making sure that they’re turning in their work and focusing on what they need to focus on as a student.”
A student who misses class because of a game still has assignments due and exams to prepare for. Ashley helps make sure those responsibilities are not lost in the shuffle.
The position also requires her to think beyond the next game or semester. Class schedules need to support students’ progress toward graduation, and academic plans must account for the requirements of their degree programs.
For head coach Rob Senderoff, that work has a measurable impact. He said Ashley’s attention to academic planning, tutoring and communication with faculty has helped the men’s basketball program maintain a strong academic record.
“She takes a lot of pressure off of me and my coaching staff because she is so on top of and in tune with what they need to make sure they’re doing well in the classroom,” Senderoff said.
Senderoff said that of the 59 players who had exhausted their eligibility during his tenure, 58 had graduated. He also noted that the program has been recognized among the top 10% of men’s basketball team GPAs by the National Association of Basketball Coaches for four consecutive years.
The numbers represent the efforts of the student-athletes themselves, but Senderoff credited Ashley with helping create the structure that allows them to meet academic expectations while competing at a high level.
Densevich provides similar support for women’s basketball, helping student-athletes understand their academic requirements, track progress and access resources when they need help. She works with students and coaches to identify challenges and connects players with the right assistance before small problems become larger ones.
She wants players to know that asking for help is part of the process — not something they should avoid until a problem becomes urgent.
“If there’s something up academically or they say they’re struggling in a class and they take it to a coach, I want the coach to say, no, no, no, go see Amy,” Densevich said. “Go see Amy because she can help you find a tutor or get you help with that course.”
That distinction is important. Coaches can encourage students to seek help, but academic support staff members have the specialized knowledge and time to work through course requirements, tutoring options and academic concerns. Densevich helps arrange those resources while monitoring how students are progressing.
“We’re tracking grades,” Densevich said. “We know how they’re progressing in their classes. So we take that worry away from them so that they can focus on their sport and take themselves to the next level athletically.”
For the coaches, that support makes a complicated job more manageable. For the students, it can mean having someone who understands both the demands of their sport and the expectations of college.
Head women's basketball coach Fran Recchia said that kind of relationship is important because the people who work with student-athletes often see sides of them that do not appear during practice or games. Those relationships can give players a place to talk through concerns, celebrate successes and ask for guidance.
“It’s kind of like everywhere is a safe space for them," Recchia said, discussing the support system around her team. "And they can be their authentic selves with them. They can talk about family stuff. They can talk about basketball, too. But sometimes those areas serve as more than that.”
That trust matters because student-athletes are still navigating the same questions and transitions as other college students. They are away from home, learning to manage their time independently and figuring out what they want their future to look like. Their status as athletes does not eliminate the need for guidance.
Densevich sees that human side of her work every day.
“When fans come to the game, they see these all-star athletes and all-star players,” she said. “But when they’re in my office, they’re just normal 18- to 22-year-olds that just need to sit down and have a conversation.”
Those conversations can help students recognize that they do not have to solve every problem alone. Academic support staff members can help them make a plan, find a tutor, communicate with an instructor or understand what they need to do to remain on track.
Suzette McQueen, Kent State’s deputy athletics director, senior woman administrator and sport administrator for both basketball programs, sees this kind of support as an essential part of the department’s student-centered approach. Her responsibilities include working with coaches.
“My job is to support. It’s to recommend. It’s to say no sometimes,” McQueen said. “But really just to make their job easier so they can focus on coaching their program.”
That philosophy applies to the academic support staff as much as it does to other areas of the program. Ashley and Densevich bring specialized expertise to student success, while coaches can rely on them to monitor progress and help students find solutions. McQueen’s perspective is that each person should be able to contribute their expertise toward a shared goal.
For Recchia, the result is a program where players can be supported as people, not just as athletes. She said that feeling of trust helps students bring their full selves to the experience — and that can affect how they perform, both in basketball and in the classroom.
Academic support is not a substitute for a student’s own effort. Players still have to attend class, complete assignments, prepare for exams and take responsibility for their education. But Ashley and Densevich help them understand the path ahead and provide support when the demands of college become complicated.
Their work also helps coaches keep their attention on the court without losing sight of the larger responsibility of college athletics: helping students earn an education.
When fans watch Kent State basketball, they see the finished product — the players competing and the coaches directing the action. Behind that experience are academic counselors helping make sure the students are progressing toward a future beyond the game.
The degree matters as much as the season. Ashley and Densevich help student-athletes keep both in view.
