Felician University

When Jerrell Jeffries tragically died in a motor vehicle accident at age 41 on July 7, 2023, several communities felt his loss. Among them was the Felician family.

Upon Jeffries’ arrival at Felician, The Golden Falcons needed to wait a year to experience his athletic talents. An injury he suffered during his senior season at Newark Tech High School lingered, and he sat out his true freshman campaign of 1999-2000. The next season, Felician hired coach Darryl Jacobs to lead its men’s basketball program, and a healthy Jeffries became a building block as the Golden Falcons began to thrive.

Felician improved each season during Jeffries’ career. In 2003, he completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but returned to the Golden Falcons as a graduate student for his final year of athletics eligibility. During that 2003-04 season, Jeffries averaged 11.7 points and 10.1 rebounds and shot .552 from the field. He helped lead Felician to an 18-11 record and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season title, the first conference crown of any kind for the program.

Jeffries was voted to the All-CACC and All-Met Writers First Teams. But he saved his best for last. During his final career game, he scored 26 points with a school-record 22 rebounds as the Golden Falcons defeated Teikyo Post University to earn the ECAC Division II Championship.

An undersized center even in Division II, Jeffries nonetheless left Felician as its all-time leader in games played (111, currently third) and rebounds (835, 2nd). He was the program’s second 1000-point scorer, and his 1100 career points still sit seventh on the career list. He also ranks third in career field-goal percentage (.541).

A literal (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) and figurative “Big Man On Campus,” Jeffries was known for fostering positive interactions with all members of the Felician community. He joins Sadot Williams, Devon Young, Antoine Obery and assistant coach Dr. Russel Wiebe as Felician Athletics Hall of Fame members from the men’s basketball program.

Jeffries returned to Felician to complete an MBA in 2020. He was in the midst of a successful career as an IT professional, having spent 10 years at Verizon and the last seven at PSEG . He is survived by several family members and friends, including his parents, Joyce Jeffries and William Hall; brother, Jermaine Jeffries; son, Xavier Jeffries; and daughter, Kiarra “Kiki” Jeffries.