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Illinois Women's Basketball Adds a Winning Assistant Coach

Illini coach Shauna Green bolstered her coaching staff on Wednesday by adding assistant Jackie Alexander

Pranav Hegde

Feb 25, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Feb 25, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
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The Illinois women's basketball program continues to add talent – not just on the court, but also on the sideline.

After a season in which the Illini won 22 games and notched their first NCAA Tournament victory in 25 years, coach Shauna Green bolstered her coaching staff by adding assistant Jackie Alexander, the program announced Wednesday.

Alexander, who joins Illinois from Toledo, has been part of some great teams in her coaching career. Last season, the Rockets won 24 games and received an invitation to the WBIT (which Illinois won in its inaugural year of 2024-25). Before her time in Toledo, Alexander spent three years at East Tennessee State, where she left an indelible mark.

In 2020-21, the Buccaneers won four games and were mired at the bottom of the Southern Conference standings. Within two years, Alexander – serving as an assistant and recruiting coordinator – helped engineer a 21-win turnaround. In 2022-23, ETSU won 25 games and secured an invite to the Woman's Basketball Invitational.

As a player, Alexander spent a year at Army (2010-2011) before transferring to NAIA's University of the Cumberlands (2011-2014). She was a two-time All-Mid South Conference selection at Cumberlands, graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology in 2014.

With the foundation Green has built at Illinois, the program appears poised to take a leap from plucky underdog to legitimate contender in 2025. Given the Illini's momentum – bolstered by the seventh-ranked recruiting class (per espnW) and impact transfers – the roster has the talent to push the Big Ten's power programs. Alexander could be another piece of a grander puzzle.

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Illinois Lands Iowa Transfer and Daughter of Former Indiana All-American

Illinois Women's Basketball Lands Impact Villanova Transfer Maddie Webber

Where Illinois Ranks in Jon Rothstein's Top 45 After Adding Mihailo Petrovic

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Pranav Hegde
PRANAV HEGDE

Primarily covers Illinois football, basketball and golf, with an emphasis on news, analysis and features. Hegde, an electrical engineering student at Illinois with an affinity for sports writing, has been writing for On SI since April 2025. He can be followed and reached on Instagram @pranavhegde__.

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