Jessie has been called one of the team's most pleasant surprises. Ranked as the second best member of Wisconsin's highly regarded 1998 recruiting class behind teammate Tamara Moore, Jessie didn't wait long to prove that she had a rightful claim to being the best member of that recruiting class.

As a frosh, Jessie came off the bench for five games at the beginning of the season, then replaced senior center Amy Wiersma in the starting line-up. After that, there was no looking back for Jessie. That year she recorded six double-doubles (scoring ten or more points and pulling down ten or more rebounds in a game) and became the first Wisconsin frosh to top 400 points scoring in a season.