Cornelius Jackson

Cornelius “Corny” Jackson, who played for Marshall from 1998-01, was named the Men’s Head Basketball Coach at Marshall University on March 25, 2024. Jackson spent the 2017-18 through the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach on the staff before being named associate head coach prior to the 2023-24 season. Jackson helped mentor many student-athletes since coming to Marshall with one of those being Taevion Kinsey. Kinsey was a four-time all-conference player during his time at Marshall, including being first team all-Sun Belt and the SBC Player of the Year during the 2022-23 season along with becoming the programs all-time leading scorer. In 2018-19, Jackson helped guide The Herd to the 2019 CIT Championship, just the second postseason tournament championship in program history.

With Jackson’s assistance in the 2017-18 season, Marshall reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 31 seasons and it secured the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament win. Jackson helped coach a program that won Conference USA for the first time ever, beating multiple ranked teams for the first time in Thundering Herd history, and had three players earn all-conference honors and win 25 games. This year’s Thundering Herd vanquished its postseason demons, captured it’s first Conference USA championship and received a Big Dance berth for the first time in 31 years. What followed elevated a season from unusual to unrivaled, as the Herd became the 28th No. 13 seed in the 34 years since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams (now 68) to defeat a No. 4 seed (Wichita State). That was Marshall’s first tournament win.

During his four seasons at Cleveland State, Jackson helped the program to 58 wins and a pair of berths in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament. Jackson worked with the Viking big men on the court and is also responsible for helping to oversee game preparation, scouting and recruiting. Jackson spent his last two seasons at UT Martin as assistant head coach. 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 freshman 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 head coach at West Virginia State University for six years (2003-09), including the last three as assistant head coach. 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 and 5.5 assists at Oak Hill High School. Jackson earned a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from Marshall University.