Kelly Graves Hires Jackie Nared Hairston as Oregon Assistant Coach

Kelly Graves hired Jackie Nared Hairston as an assistant coach Thursday. It was Coach Kelly Graves’ first addition to the coaching staff after the departures of Mark Campbell, Xavier Lopez and Megan Lopez to Sacramento State.

Welcome 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 to Oregon, @jnared! @GoDucksKG has announced the hiring of assistant coach Jackie Nared Hairston, who spent 2017-18 with the Ducks and the last two seasons as an assistant at Arizona. #GoDucks

Details ➡️ https://t.co/QOQBVeNaRy pic.twitter.com/qFgbAFTyCa
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) April 30, 2021

The hire marks a reunion between Nared Hairston and Oregon, as she was the director of creativity and video in the 2017-18 season. Since then, she circled around the Pac-12 as an assistant coach, spending the 2018-19 season at Washington State and the past two seasons at Arizona.

Prior to being hired at Oregon in 2017-18, she served as the director of player development at Washington from 2014-16.

“We are very excited to welcome Jackie back to Oregon,” Graves said. “She brings a championship mindset and a strong understanding of both our program and the Pac-12.”

Nared Hairston expressed her excitement to work together with Coach Graves once again.

“I am thrilled to return to Oregon, where I have the privilege of working alongside Coach Graves,” she said. “He has been an incredible mentor and is a proven winner. I look forward to contributing to the continued success of this elite program, and playing a key role in developing these outstanding young women both on and off the court.”

Nared Hairston knows a thing or two about elite programs. In her lone season at Oregon, she helped the Ducks advance to the Elite Eight. She also played a role in Washington’s run to the Final Four in 2016 and Arizona’s run to the NCAA championship game last season.

Before she climbed the ranks in the Pac-12 in the coaching realm, Nared Hairston tore up the West Coast Conference at St. Mary’s from 2012-14 after transferring from Maryland. She was a two-time first-team All-WCC selection and led the conference in scoring in each of her last two seasons with the Gaels.

Nared Hairston joins an Oregon coaching staff that had remained mostly the same since Graves was hired in 2013. Campbell was also hired in 2013 and Xavier Lopez — the former assistant strength and conditioning coach — joined in 2014.

Campbell was named the head coach at Sacramento State earlier this month. He hired Xavier and Megan Lopez to his coaching staff, leaving Graves with the task of replacing his longtime assistants. With Nared Hairston, Graves gains a familiar face and a coach who has experience at some of the top programs in the country.

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