Marshall University Athletics
Cornelius Jackson’s Introductory Press Conference Set For April 3
4/1/2024 2:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Marshall Athletics to introduce 30th Men’s Basketball Coach at Cam Henderson Center
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Athletics has announced that the introductory press conference for new Men's Basketball coach Cornelius Jackson will be April 3.
The press conference to announce Jackson as the 30th Men's Basketball coach in Marshall history will start at 11:30 a.m. inside Cam Henderson Center.
The announcement comes after Marshall University's Board of Governors met on Monday to approve the hire of Jackson.
"We hope you can join us on Wednesday to hear from the next Head Coach of our Thundering Herd," said Christian Spears, Marshall's Director of Athletics. "We are so proud to introduce Coach Jackson as the 30th Head Coach in the history of Marshall Basketball."
Jackson, who was announced as the new head coach on Monday, spent the last seven seasons as an assistant for the Thundering Herd under Dan D'Antoni and was promoted in June 2023 to Associate Head Coach – a position in which he served during the 2023-24 season.
"Corny is a Son of Marshall who has earned his run at guiding Marshall hoops," D'Antoni said. "As my right arm, Corny was a huge part in making our program set many new heights. I want to offer my sincere thanks for his friendship and he has my total support on our dream of a successful, nationally-recognized program. GO CORNY! GO HERD!"
A decorated assistant coach and player for the Herd, Jackson has overseen the development of some of Marshall's top talent during his time coaching in Huntington.
Jackson was pivotal in the development of three of Marshall's top six all-time leading scorers: Taevion Kinsey (2,641 points, No. 1), Jon Elmore (2,638 points, No. 2) and C.J. Burks (1,892 points, No. 6).
The Oak Hill, W.Va., native joined Marshall's staff prior to the 2017-18 season and his impact was immediately felt as the Thundering Herd won the Conference USA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 31 years where they upset No. 4 seed Wichita State to give the program its first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
Prior to coming to Marshall, Jackson had served as an assistant coach at Cleveland State (2013-17), UT-Martin (2010-12) and West Virginia State (2003-09).
In addition to his coaching acumen, Jackson is a Son of Marshall that had a decorated career with the Thundering Herd.
Jackson started all 84 games over three seasons with the Thundering Herd from 1998-2001, serving as the team's point guard and team captain for all three years. He ranks No. 6 on Marshall's all-time career assists list with 518.
Jackson led the Mid-American Conference in assists for two straight seasons: the 1999-2000 season in which he averaged 7.3 assists per game and the 2000-01 season in which he averaged 5.7 assists per game.
His 1999-2000 total of 218 assists is No. 4 on Marshall's single-season records list for assists.
Jackson is one of only five players in Marshall history to average 10 points and 5.0 assists per game, joining Jon Elmore, Mike D'Antoni, Sidney Coles and Jason Williams as the only players to do so. For his career, Jackson averaged 10.2 points and 6.2 assists per game.
The Oak Hill graduate was named an All-American and was the 1996 W.Va. Player of the Year after averaging 28.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He signed with Tennessee out of high school and started 20 of 27 games there as a freshman before returning home to Marshall where he earned a B.A. in Sociology.
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