Melissa Jackson was formally introduced to the Youngstown community and Mahoning Valley on Monday as the ninth head coach of the Youngstown State women's basketball program.
Jackson spoke for roughly 13 minutes at her introductory press conference on Rosselli Court, then answered one-on-one questions with the Valley's media outlets in attendance. She expressed gratitude for the opportunity and went through an extensive list of thank yous to people who helped her throughout her career. Among them were Jim Tressel, YSU's former president and legendary football coach who was also a colleague of Jackson's at Akron; John Barnes, YSU's head coach from 2013-23, and Bob Boldon, who was the program's head coach from 2010-13.
Jackson then closed her opening statement by outlining the core values the program will hold under her leadership: family, passion, toughness, commitment and gratitude.
Following a question-and-answer period, a session of one-on-one interviews with media members and a quick photo shoot with family who attended the event, Jackson was off to meet some of YSU's biggest fans. More than 100 people attended a special meet and greet inside the Beeghly Center Coaches Court to talk with Jackson and meet her family. YSU president Bill Johnson introduced her, and she answered several questions during an open forum with fans.
Jackson was announced as Youngstown State's ninth head women's basketball coach on March 14. She served as an assistant coach at Cleveland State in 2023-24, and she was the head coach at Akron from 2018-23. Jackson is the only head coach in Zips history to have a winning record over a career.
Press Conference Opening Statement
Wow. I'm filled with unbelievable gratitude. I'm so honored and excited to be the next head women's basketball coach at Youngstown State University. I want to thank President Bill Johnson and Director of Athletics Ron Strollo for your trust and belief in me. Through this process, I've enjoyed every conversation with Ron, and I think we have really aligned in our vision for women's basketball. It is pretty cool when you can say that, and it was a big reason why I chose to be the head coach. Thank you to Rebecca Fink and the entire athletics staff for making this transition so seamless. Everyone has been so welcoming.
I want to thank Coach Tressel for his support. I received a text message from him when everything was official, and that was a really cool moment for me. Coach Tressel talked about the people, and I'm big believer that people make the place. And it is evident that there are really special people here at YSU.
I also want to thank Coach John Barnes and his staff. I've had a tremendous amount of respect for what they have built over the past 11 years. I've really appreciated his support and insight throughout this process. I wish him all the best.
I'm excited to build relationships with the former YSU players. I want them all to know that YSU is home, they are family, and they are always welcome back. Our alumni will be a very important piece to our program. Every day, I will look up at these banners that Coach D brought to YSU a motivation to get back to the big dance.
To the YSU community and loyal supporters, I absolutely can't wait to engage in this community. Every time I have visited Beeghly, I have been blown away by the atmosphere and support for women's basketball. When we played here a few weeks ago, there was 2,000 people in the stands. It was amazing. The atmosphere was incredible. It was 6:30 on a Tuesday night. I can't wait to engage this community and pack Beeghly every single night and continue to make it one of the toughest places to play in all of college basketball.
Thank Yous
Bear with me as I get through a long list of personal thank yous. I really want thank a lot of people that have gotten me to where I am today. First I want to thank my college coaches Joanne Boyle, Lindsay Gottlieb, and the late Ginny Doyle. Lindsay and Joanne have been unbelievable mentors to me throughout my career. They pushed me to get into college coaching and taught me the importance of strong relationships. I'm hoping we get to see Lindsay in Cleveland at the final four with her No. 1-seeded USC Trojans.
To Tina Martin and Jeanine Radice for hiring me as a full-time assistant at the young age of 21 at the University of Delaware. I was able to become a part of the one of the best mid-major programs in the country at the time. I learned so much in those first few years about hard work and dedication to a program.
To Jodi Kest for giving me my first opportunity in the great state of Ohio. Under Coach Kest, I learned elite scouting and scheming and ultimately gave me the tools to become a successful head coach. To Larry Williams and Mary Lu Gribschaw, for giving me my first opportunity as a head coach at Akron. Your belief and support to this day have meant the world to me. Mary Lu is actually works on campus here in admissions, so I'm really excited to get to connect with her again.
I would be remiss if I didn't thank all my former players and staff at Akron. I appreciate all the outpouring of messages over the last few days. I've tried to get back to everyone. Those players and staff have meant a lot to me over the years, and I, hopefully, will get some of them to be Penguin fans.
Coach K, the CSU staff, players and President Bloomberg, I want to thank them for an unbelievable eight months. Thank you to Coach K for your friendship and allowing me to be a sponge during my time at CSU. It was a year of growth, and I learned a lot and enjoyed every single minute of it. I wish them all the best as they finish up the season and represent the Horizon League in the WBIT.
I also want to thank some colleagues who have always been there for me. Akron's John Groce, Toledo's Trisha Cullop, Ohio's Bob Boldon, who many of you know from his time here at YSU.
Thank you to my agent Brian Stanchak, who is very much like family to us. The absolute best in the business, thank you for your support and for being here today. It means so much.
To my mom, brother Chris, nephew Greyson and his entire family. Thank you for making the trip out to Jersey and for all your support over the years. I love you.
To my dad. My first coach. I know you're looking down on me with a huge smile. Tt's crazy. It's almost exactly one year since you left us. He would have loved YSU. I know he will be with me on that bench every single game.
To my in-laws, Robert and Linda Jackson, my sister-in-law Stacy, and our Northeast Ohio village, thank you for all the helping hands and big hearts.
To my children Luke, Ben and Cameron, my "whys", thank you for sharing your mom with our team. I can't wait for you to get shots up in this gym and be around as we do special things at YSU.
Last but certainly not least to my husband Drew, my biggest fan, an unbelievable teammate, and my best friend. I love you.
Coaching Philosophy
Our program will be centered around five core values that will transform our culture and our locker room.
The first is family. When I met with the team last week, we talked a lot about what family will mean to this program.
Next is passion. You will see a passionate group of young women who compete at a really high level every single day.
Toughness. We are going to be mentally, physically and emotionally tough.
Commitment. Our group is going to be committed to the court, but also to the classroom and to this YSU community.
And lastly gratitude. My favorite word in the English language. Our program will demonstrate gratitude in everything that we do.
Again I am thrilled to be standing before you today as your next head women's basketball coach. I can't wait to get started. Go Penguins!
Questions & Answers
What's step one for you?
Great question, right? Well, I don't have to move, so that's good, or a ginormous move. But, it's really about the players, about the incoming recruits. Meeting with with the team was really, really important. Obviously, the transfer portal opened up today, so filtering through that. But also building our staff and what that's going to look like. I've been really really intentional about that. I would say those are the first orders of business.
Have you met with the current staff? Will you keep anybody?
Yeah, I met with the current staff last week had some great conversations with them. It's really very much in flux right now. Obviously being a head coach before, there's a lot of people that I want to talk to. I really want to get the right staff for this program at the right time. So I'm very much still filtering through all of that.
What was your message to the women returning?
It was brief, I will say. But we touched on those five core values, and those are going to be the pillars of our program. We're going to stand on those every single day, whether it's out in the community, whether it's in practice, and obviously when we compete. Those are going to be our five values that we really, really strive to do every single day and live them.
A couple days ago, Cleveland State put out a release saying that you would stay with them through the end of their postseason run. Is that still the case?
I had intended to do that, I will say, and that's being very transparent and honest. I wish them all the best. But as the last couple days have come about, I need to solely be here at YSU and be 100% committed to this program. I wish them all the best, and, like I said, the last eight months have been unbelievable for me and my family. Those relationships are strong, but I really need to focus on on the Penguins right now.
What sold you on coming here?
What didn't, right? YSU is amazing. This administration... Ron (Strollo) really laid out a vision for me that I could not pass up. Obviously, I love Northeast Ohio. I've spent an enormous amount of my career here. I have great recruiting ties. My family is rooted in Northeast Ohio, so that was a big part of it. But YSU is a sleeping giant - the facilities here, the support... I am so excited to get people to campus and can't wait to show this place off.
What was the timeline with regards to when you first expressed interest in the job and met the administration?
I think when Coach Barnes resigned and we all knew that that was happening, it definitely sparked an interest in me because of the location, because of the history, because of the support. I've been in this arena many many on the visiting bench. I've seen the the crowds and how tough a place it is to play here. So, I think that that initial spark. Then obviously over the last couple weeks having those conversations with Ron, it was just a really a dream come true.
Can you expand a bit more on your recruiting efforts? Where are you going to put your focus? Are you going to be looking at getting freshman in?
Well we have seven signees. I've been able to talk with all them and their families. Those have been really positive and great conversations. But nowadays it is the portal, and like I said it open today, so there's a lot of traffic in there right now. Quickly after this press conference, I'll be getting back to that.
