Temple saw untapped potential in forward Jaleesa Molina. Now, she’s becoming ‘unstoppable.’

As a freshman at Temple, forward Jaleesa Molina described herself as “lost” on the court.

The Netherlands native came to North Philadelphia with essentially no knowledge of college basketball. She did not watch the sport — games being played here usually were too late in the day back home — and the style was different from what she was used to.

Molina still was adjusting as a sophomore last season, and eventually, something clicked in the back half of the season.

She recorded seven double-doubles in conference play and became one of the top forwards in what is now known as the American Conference. It has since given her the confidence to play a larger role and help guide Temple (3-1) this season. The junior has started all four games and is averaging 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds.

“Freshman year, I had no confidence, zero,” Molina said. “You saw that in the way I played. I was just super scared and not willing to actually play. Now, I’m here, and the coaches are behind me saying, ‘Go, Jaleesa. You’ve got the green light. You can score; you can tell the team what to do.’ I really like it.”

Molina had plenty of success in the Netherlands before making her way to Temple. She played in the FIBA under-18 European Championships and U18 3x3 World Cup. Her film was sent to Temple’s coaching staff, which saw great potential.

Coach Diane Richardson got Molina to visit the campus and made her feel right at home, she said. She committed to the Owls without considering other options.

“The coaches were so nice and they didn’t even mind that my English wasn’t that good,” Molina said. “They just kept saying, ‘We’re going to help you; we got you — we’re going to make a great player of you.’ The way they showed me the campus and they made a video for me. It just was like, ‘Wow, I want to be here.’”

While the belief from her new coaches was helpful, Molina’s adjustment to college basketball was not easy. The American game is faster, and running set plays was new to her.

She spent most of her time as a freshman trying to learn on the fly. As a result, she scored in double figures just twice in 19 games and did not record a point in Temple’s final seven games of the 2023-24 season.

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As a sophomore, Molina did not score in double figures until conference play started, but her seven double-doubles against league opponents helped the Owls to a 13-5 record in the American.

“She now understands that she can play basketball,” Richardson said. “She came over here, and I kind of called her a ballerina early, so she didn’t like that too much. But she understands that she’s unstoppable in some ways. … She knows that she’s quick, she knows that she’s got length, and now she’s utilizing all those tools.”

Molina has carried that success into the start of her junior season. With the way the 6-foot-3 forward plays, her size has helped her develop into a viable scorer.

Molina operates as more of big guard as opposed to a traditional post player because of her quickness. Her speed helps her run the floor in transition, which has resulted in easy layups. Molina also has shown the ability to shoot three-pointers, knocking down 2 of 7 this season, and is working on jump shots off the dribble.

“Her first step is honestly quick, and you can see because she has a lot of straight-line drives to the basket as well,” guard Kaylah Turner said. “Defenders cannot guard her, guards or posts.”

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Confidence has transformed Molina into one of Temple’s key players and a captain for this season. She has gone from not knowing where to go on the court to a player everyone looks up to.

Molina’s development has helped Temple remain competitive in the American. Her main goal is winning, and she knows it goes beyond her to do that.

“We’ve just got to treat it like we’re family,” Molina said. “And that is the only way to get [to the conference championship] because if you’re not together, you can’t win. It’s a team sport.”