Original article (Women’s Basketball Announces Coaching Staff Additions) on the West Virginia University’s athletic website wvusports.com.
West Virginia University women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit has announced the hiring of three assistant coaches for the 2022-23 season.
Plitzuweit welcomes associate head coach Jason Jeschke, assistant coach Aaron Horn and assistant coach Ariel Braker to Morgantown. Jeschke, Horn and Braker served under Plitzuweit at South Dakota for the 2021-22 campaign. Additionally, Jeschke has coached at USD since 2017-18, and Horn worked under Plitzuweit during her entire coaching career with the Coyotes.
“I am absolutely elated to have our staff of coaches joining me on this incredible journey at West Virginia University,” Plitzuweit said. “I have worked closely with Jason, Aaron and Ariel, and our staff has great synergy together.
“They are tireless workers and are committed to growing our players into the best version of themselves on the court and in life. They are great at developing relationships and excellent at skill development on the court. Our players, recruits and fans will really enjoy getting to know these individuals and their families.”
Jason Jeschke (JESS-key) | Associate Head Coach
Jeschke comes to Morgantown after spending the last five seasons at South Dakota. From 2017-22, he assisted the program to a 135-27 overall record, including a 73-5 mark in the Summit League. Additionally, Jeschke helped guide USD to three regular-season championships, three conference tournament championships and four NCAA Tournament berths, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2022.
“My family and I are honored and extremely excited to join Coach P in Morgantown,” Jeschke said. “I want say a special thank you to President Gee, Shane Lyons, Keli Zinn and Matt Wells for this amazing opportunity.
“Having worked with Dawn for the past five seasons, I know her to be a great tactician, but an even better developer of young ladies, both on and off the court. I am absolutely pumped to continue working alongside Coach P and can’t wait for West Virginia to get to know her and the rest of our staff!”
Jeschke began his time at USD as an assistant coach for the 2017-18 campaign, before being elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2018-19 season.
Working on the staff of three-time Summit League Coach of the Year Dawn Plitzuweit, Jeschke helped her become the fastest Summit League coach to reach 100 wins in just 124 games. He also was a part of a coaching staff that helped the Coyotes win 28 or more games for three consecutive seasons from 2018-20.
In 2021-22, South Dakota finished the season with a 29-6 record and won the Summit League title in the regular season and conference tournament. Following its third consecutive conference tournament title, USD earned the automatic bid for the Summit League in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 10 seed, and defeated No. 7-seeded Ole Miss, 75-61.
USD met up with No. 2-seeded Baylor in the round of 32 and defeated the Bears, 61-47, on their home court in Waco, Texas, to advance to the first Sweet 16 in program history. The Coyotes led from start to finish to snap BU’s streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
South Dakota concluded the 2021-22 campaign with a 52-49 loss to No. 3-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16, in which the Coyotes were tied with the Wolverines until 22 seconds remained in the game.
While at South Dakota, Jeschke helped Plitzuweit’s teams assert themselves as the premier mid-major program in the country. USD tallied at least 28 wins in four seasons and never lost more than seven games in Jeschke’s five years with the team.
Jeschke also helped Plitzuweit’s South Dakota teams capture the Summit League records for the most consecutive wins (20, 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24, 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (31, 2017-pres.), highest overall winning percentage (.938, 2019-20) and fewest losses (2, 2019-20).
During his time at South Dakota, the Coyotes made their first appearance in the Associated Press (AP) and USA Today Coaches polls, ranking as high as No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll, both of which came during the 2019-20 campaign. Of note, USD’s No. 11 ranking in the Coaches Poll in 2020 is the highest national ranking earned by a team in the Summit League’s history.
Statistically, Jeschke was part of a coaching staff that helped South Dakota rank in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin and turnover margin from 2018-22. During that four-year stretch, the Coyotes outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game and maintained a turnover margin of 6.2 during that span.
Jeschke also recruited and coached 19 Summit League All-Conference selections in his five seasons at South Dakota, including two Players of the Year, five consecutive Defensive Players of the Year, two Newcomers of the Year and four Sixth Woman of the Year recipients.
Jeschke came to South Dakota after spending three seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. From 2014-17, the Eagles posted a 58-38 overall record and a 31-24 record in conference play. Jeschke recruited and coached 11 all-conference players and one NAIA All-American at OKWU. His 2015-16 team finished fifth nationally in scoring offense with 83.5 points per game.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Jeschke graduated from Southwestern College (Kan.) with a bachelor’s in sport management in 2009. He stayed on at Southwestern after graduation to serve as an assistant women’s basketball coach and sports information director while working towards his MBA, which he completed in 2013. In five years with the Southwestern women’s basketball program, the team compiled a 120-39 record with four consecutive trips to the NAIA Tournament. He also served as the head coach of the junior varsity team.
Jeschke has served on the NAIA Tournament committee and the NAIA/WBCA All-America committee.
He and his wife, Courtney, have a daughter, Rylee.
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