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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women’s basketball head coach Shauna Green has announced the hiring of Jackie Alexander as an assistant coach. Alexander joins the Illinois program after one season on Toledo’s staff.
“I am so excited that Jackie is joining our famILLy,” Green shared. “She brings a wealth of experience, both as a recruiting coordinator and on the court. Jackie has been an offensive and defensive coordinator at different institutions and has had success. She is a proven winner and has been a part of two major turnarounds in different programs. She understands what impacts winning! I can’t wait to have her here and get to work!”
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Shauna Green’s elite staff and become part of the Fighting Illini family,” began Alexander. “I have immense respect for what Coach Green and her staff have accomplished over the past three seasons at Illinois, as well as the remarkable track record she’s built throughout her career. Shauna is not only a proven winner, but also an exceptional leader and person. I’m excited to help build on the foundation of success and contribute to the continued rise of the Illinois women’s basketball program.”
Alexander joined the Rockets’ staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in May 2024. Prior to Toledo (2024-25), Alexander held positions at East Tennessee State (2021-24), Eastern Kentucky (2019-21), Albany (2018-19), and Air Force (2017-18).
During the 2024-25 campaign, Toledo posted a 24-9 record, including a 13-5 mark in MAC play. The Rockets earned an at-large bid to the WBIT after securing a second-place finish in regular-season MAC action and a runner-up nod in the tournament.
Prior to her time in the Glass City, Alexander spent three years at ETSU as the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, a group that registered a 21-win turnaround in just two seasons with a 25-10 record (9-5 SoCon) in 2022-23. The Buccaneers played in the postseason as part of the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) and had first-team, second-team, and all-defensive conference selections. ETSU followed up that success with an 18-12 season in 2023-24, going 7-7 in league play.
Prior to ETSU, Alexander coached at Eastern Kentucky from 2019-2021, serving as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator with the Colonels. EKU had the fourth-biggest turnaround in the country from 2018-19 to 2019-20, improving by nine wins from two to 11.
Alexander served as the director of basketball operations at Albany in 2018-19 while also holding an interim assistant coaching role with the Great Danes in 2018. She began her coaching career in women’s basketball as the video coordinator for the United States Air Force Academy during the 2017-18 season.
Alexander has participated in the Top Connect Symposium the last three years (2022, ’23, ’24) in addition to attending the WBCA Next Generation Institute in 2024. She was named to the 2021 WBCA Thirty Under 30 List.
A native of Broadhead, Ky., Alexander played one season at Army West Point (2010-11) before transferring to the University of the Cumberlands (2011-14), where she was a two-time All-Mid South Conference selection and two-time NAIA Academic All-American. She graduated from Cumberlands in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in biology before earning her master’s degree from ETSU in sport management in 2023.
Following her undergraduate career, Alexander served as an Army officer for three years, reaching the rank of captain. She served at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and was deployed to Iraq while in the Army.
