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Cornelius Jackson

Cornelius Jackson

Cornelius Jackson, is in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Cleveland State men’s basketball program.

Jackson arrived at CSU in May of 2013 after serving a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Tennessee Martin, including the final two years as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator.

In his three seasons at CSU, Jackson has helped the program to 49 wins and a pair of berths in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament.

Jackson works with the Viking big men on the court and is also responsible for helping to oversee game preparation, scouting and recruiting.

In 2011-12, Jackson oversaw the development of Myles Taylor who was the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and also earned a spot on the all-newcomer team. In his first season as the recruiting coordinator, Jackson secured one of the top classes in program history as UT Martin’s freshmen trio combined to win eight Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week awards, marking just the third time that one school earned that many mentions in a single season since the league created the award in 1978-79.

In 2010-11, UT Martin tripled its win total from the previous season and earned its first-ever OVC Tournament victory with Jackson on staff.

Prior to joining the staff at UT Martin, Jackson was an assistant coach at West Virginia State University for six years (2003-09). He was responsible for all recruiting and scheduling at West Virginia State, while coordinating the video film exchange, scouting opponents and assisting with the development of game plans.

He was part of five teams that won at least 20 games and captured three NCAA tournament bids. During his six seasons at West Virginia State, Jackson was part of 148 wins, including back-to-back conference championships for the first time in school history.

Jackson signed with Tennessee out of high school and started 20 of 27 games for the Vols as a freshman. He transferred to Marshall where he was the starting point guard and team captain for three years. He was also the only Herd player to start every game during his career, leading the Mid-American Conference in assists as a junior and senior.

After graduation, Jackson was drafted by the Roanoke Dazzle of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL). He also played professionally in Germany and Austria.

Jackson was an All-American and the West Virginia high school Player of the Year in 1996 when he averaged 28.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.8 assists at Oak Hill Academy.

Jackson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Marshall.

Jackson has twin 15-year old daughters, Tiarra and Valessa Jackson.