Jessica Jackson, a former player and graduate assistant under Kellie Harper, joined the Lady Bears coaching staff as an assistant on June 8, 2018.
Jackson serves as recruiting coordinator on Harper’s staff, while assisting in numerous other day-to-day duties with the program.
“I am really excited to be adding Jessica Jackson to our coaching staff,” said Harper. “She is not only a terrific coach and recruiter, but she is a terrific person as well. She will be a wonderful asset to our program and the Missouri State community.”
Jackson spent the 2017-18 season at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., where her main responsibilities with the Bulldogs included recruiting, academics and scheduling. She spent the previous three seasons at Appalachian State, contributing to a variety of aspects of the program in addition to her coaching and recruiting duties, ranging from equipment to compliance.
“I’d like to thank Kellie for this incredible opportunity to join the Missouri State family,” added Jackson. “I’m looking forward to mentoring young women on and off the court, as well as being a part of the rich women’s basketball tradition here. Having played for Kellie, this is full circle moment that I am extremely grateful for!”
Prior to her time at Appalachian State, Jackson was the director of women’s basketball operations at Kent State University for two seasons from 2012-14.
Originally from Roswell, Ga., and a 2016 inductee to the Roswell High School Hall of Fame, Jackson played college basketball for two seasons at South Florida before transferring to Western Carolina prior to the 2007-08 season to play for Harper. She dished out a team-high 117 assists as a starting point guard for the Catamounts’ NCAA Tournament team in 2009, and finished her college career with 475 points and 279 assists in 113 games.
Jackson graduated from WCU in 2010 with a marketing degree, and earned her Master’s in adult and community college education from North Carolina State in 2012 after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant on Harper’s staff.
