Monmouth University athletics director Dr. Marilyn McNeil officially introduced Jackie DeVane as the school?s new women?s basketball head coach on April 21, 2001 and the program has moved full steam ahead ever since, including four consecutive winning seasons.
DeVane, who brought 10 years of collegiate head coaching experience to the Jersey Shore, is the University?s fourth coach in its 21-season stay as an NCAA Division I member.
DeVane led Monmouth back to the Northeast Conference Championship game last season as the third-seed in the postseason tournament, leading the Hawks to their first title game appearance since 1999, one step closer to the ultimate goal of winning the NEC and making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983. The Blue and White posted a 17-13 mark overall and 11-7 record in league play en route to the tournament.
Behind two All-NEC selections, Niamh Dwyer and Jewonda Bright, the Blue and White led the league once again in field goal percentage defense, a signature of DeVane's programs. The Hawks earned a spot in the NEC title game at top-seeded St. Francis University, where Bright and Courtney Lumpkin both earned All-Tournament accolades for the Hawks.
In her first season in the Northeast Conference, DeVane led the Hawks to a 14-13 overall record and a 10-8 finish in the league, while just missing the NEC Tournament due to tiebreakers.
Despite losing five seniors to graduation in 2001, DeVane and the Hawks reclaimed a spot in the postseason in 2002, with a 16-12 record and a fourth place finish in league play, but fell in the Northeast Conference quarterfinals.
In 2002-2003, the Hawks took another step towards their first Northeast Conference Championship since 1987, and first NCAA Tournament bid since 1983, as the Blue and White posted an 18-11 record, advancing to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament. The Hawks registered a 12-6 mark in conference play during the season, claiming the number three seed in the postseason tournament, as the squad was led by second-team All-NEC selection forward Rashawnah French and NEC All-Rookie, Liz Whalen, who set the single-season record for three-point field goal percentage for Monmouth and the league.
The Philadelphia, Pa., native, arrived in West Long Branch after a successful coaching stint at Delaware State University. She served as the skipper at her alma mater from 1995-2000. During that five-year span, she registered a 63-70 record. Following the 1995-96 campaign, in which DSU registered a 14-12 record, DeVane was tabbed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference?s Coach of the Year. During that season, the Hornets posted their best conference mark in 10 seasons and put together a school-record nine-game winning streak. In her final season at Delaware State, DeVane led the Hornets to an 11-17 mark and a seventh-place finish in the MEAC.
During her tenure at Delaware State, DeVane also served as the University?s senior woman administrator.
Prior to her stint at Delaware State, DeVane served as head coach at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1992. At Cheyney, she took over a fledgling program that posted a dismal 2-25 record prior to arrival. In her initial season, she improved the Wolves? record by eight games (10-17) and in her third season she led Cheyney to its first ever 20-win season (20-8), its best record in over seven years. DeVane also coached the women?s volleyball team while at Cheyney.
As a player, DeVane earned four letters as a member of the Delaware State basketball team. She served as the Hornets? team captain all four seasons. During her final season she was a NAGWS All-America candidate and she still ranks among the school?s all-time leading rebounders. DeVane led the Hornets in rebounding in 1979-80 (11.4 rpg), 1981-82 (11.2 rpg) and 1982-83 (7.3 rpg). In her junior and senior seasons, she ranked in the the top 10 among the nation?s rebounding leaders.
During her playing career, DeVane pulled down at least 20 rebounds in a game on four occasions, including a school-record 28 in a contest during her freshman campaign. In 1997, DeVane was inducted into the Delaware State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
DeVane is a 1983 graduate of Delaware State, earning a bachelor?s degree in recreation. She earned a master?s degree in therapeutic recreation from Penn State University in 1987.
DeVane, a member of the Women?s Basketball Coaches? Association and the Black Coaches? Association, was elected to the Board of Directors of each in 2004 and will serve a three-year term.
Prior to her accepting the position at Monmouth, she served as president of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Women?s Basketball Coaches? Association.
A veteran of the basketball camp circuit, DeVane has worked at some of the nation?s premier camps, including the John Chaney/Sonny Hill Basketball Camp, Syracuse University Basketball Camp and the Florida Atlantic University Basketball Camp, as well as succesfully hosting her own Monmouth University camps for the past four summers in West Long Branch.
Jackie resides in Brick Township and has two children, Sean and Marquita (?Kiki?).
