Original article (Kielsmeier Announces Assistant Coaches For Upcoming 2023-24 Campaign) on Cleveland State University’s athletic website csuvikings.com.

Cleveland State women’s basketball head coach Chris Kielsmeier announced the addition of two assistant coaches for the upcoming 2023-24 season, as Melissa Jackson has joined the staff and Shelby Zoeckler has been promoted to this new role.

Melissa Jackson
Jackson comes to Cleveland State with 19 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 15 years in Northeast Ohio. Most recently, Jackson served as the head coach at Akron, where she led the Zips to a pair of postseason appearances and the best winning percentage in program history.

“We are excited to welcome Melissa to our program, as her experience and success will be a great addition to our staff as we continue to build on our championship culture,” Kielsmeier said. “Melissa brings a wealth of knowledge in on-court coaching, recruiting and player development, along with all of the intangibles that you need in order to have an elite program. With her coaching background and history of success, Melissa will no doubt be a great fit for our program, and help us in the years to come as we continue to strive for excellence on and off the court.”

Prior to being promoted to head coach in 2018, Jackson served as Akron’s associate head coach for six years and assistant coach for four seasons. During this stretch, the Zips earned five postseason appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 after capturing the MAC Tournament title.

“I am incredibly excited to join the Cleveland State women’s basketball program, and so thankful to Coach Kielsmeier for this opportunity,” Jackson said. “Coach Kielsmeier is a proven winner both on and off the court, and I have an immense amount of respect for him and what he has accomplished throughout his career. During the process I was extremely impressed with everything that Cleveland State has to offer, and I can’t wait to get to work for this championship-level program and help impact student-athletes at CSU!”

During her time at Akron, Jackson helped lead the Zips to three 20-win campaigns and assisted in recruiting six MAC major award winners and 23 All-MAC honorees.

Prior to her time at Akron, Jackson spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Delaware, helping the Blue Hens to a CAA Regular Season championship, two WNIT appearances and an NCAA Tournament berth. Jackson was part of 20-win campaigns in three of her four seasons at Delaware, helping to recruit four CAA major award winners, six CAA All-League honorees and a top-20 pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft.

Jackson is a graduate of the University of Richmond, where she was a four-year student-athlete on the women’s basketball team.

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