Jessie Ivey joined the Miami women’s basketball coaching staff as associate head coach in April of 2024, joining head coach Tricia Cullop after four dominant seasons at the University of Toledo as associate head coach.
Ivey brings in a decade and a half of experience in the coaching world, which also includes time as a head coach.
Championship Culture At Toledo (2020-24, Associate Head Coach)
Ivey was an integral member of the staff at Toledo. With the Rockets she served as the team’s defensive coordinator and lead coach of the guards, while assisting in recruiting, academic support and opponent scouting.
While at Toledo, the Rockets won three Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season titles and one MAC tournament title. The dominant tenure in Toledo featured a 95-25 overall record. Ivey and the Rockets overwhelmed MAC opposition, going 60-16. The Rockets won 14-straight games in Ivey’s final season at Toledo, just a few games short of a 17-game winning streak tallied the year prior. Toledo forged one of the best home-court advantages in the nation, going 51-10 from 2020-21 through 2023-24, while capping the 2023-24 regular season with a showing of 6,238 fans.
The Rockets went 28-6 in Ivey’s final season at Toledo, turning in a league-best 17-1 record and 15-1 mark at home. Toledo played into the final days of March, coming up just one-possession shy of a trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament Semifinals after defeating Cleveland State and St. John’s in the first two rounds. The Rockets paced the MAC in nine statistical categories last season, including assist/turnover ratio, assists/game, free throw percentage, free throws made per game, scoring defense, scoring margin, scoring offense, turnovers per game and winning percentage.
Ivey helped coach a series of dominant players at Toledo, many of which finished their careers ranked all-throughout the program’s all-time statistical record books. Sophia Wiard was named 2023-24 MAC Player of the Year, while reigning league player of the year Quinesha Lockett joined her on the All-MAC First Team. Sammi Mikonowicz was a third team all-league pick and seven Rockets were honored with Academic All-MAC Team recognition.
Lockett was honored with national recognition, playing for Cheryl Miller’s squad in the Women’s College All-Star Game, scoring 11 points just down the road in Cleveland. A four-time all-league pick, Lockett concluded her collegiate career with 2,423 points, good for second in Toledo’s program history.
Imposing defense and all-conference guard play helped fuel Toledo to another phenomenal season in 2022-23. Lockett earned MAC Player of the Year honors and Wiard finished seventh in the nation in assist/turnover ratio as an all-conference honoree. Toledo would win the regular season crown, winning 29 games, tying the second record for most wins in a season for the second-straight season. Among those wins were Power Five victories against Michigan and No. 5-seed Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the Rockets’ first NCAA Tournament win since 1996, as well as the largest upset based on tournament seeding. MAC All-Defensive Team pick Khera Goss helped the Rockets hold opponents to a league-low 39.3 field goal percentage.
Ivey was by Silver Waves Media as one of the nation’s most impactful mid-major assistant coaches, her second such selection. She was only one of two MAC assistants to appear on the list. She was also selected to participate in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) inaugural Next Generation Institute.
The 2021-22 season was the first of consecutive 29-win seasons for Ivey and the Rockets. Toledo went 29-6 and 19-1 in MAC play, setting a team and conference record for most conference victories in a season en route to the program’s 10th MAC Regular Season crown. UT held teams to only 61.1 points per game, helping the Rockets past Houston Baptist, Kent State and Marquette in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
Lockett lit up the scoring column, posting 17.9 points per game, Wiard helped guide one of the most efficient offenses across the nation and Goss helped lock down the opposition’s best perimeter options. Ivey earned her first of two selections on Silver Waves Media’s most impactful mid-major assistant coaches list that season.
Leading the Program at Tiffin (2018-20, Head Coach)
Ivey brings valued experience as a head coach, having led Division II Tiffin University for two seasons. Ivey helped revitalize the program, shown in a number of program “firsts”. In 2019-20, Tiffin earned its first trip to the league tournament since the 2012 season, using an upset of No. 17 Kentucky Wesleyan to clinch a spot in the tournament. It was the program’s first-ever win against a nationally-ranked team.
The Dragons set program records for team rebounds with 1,112, while the team logged the most offensive boards per game in the conference. Aarion Nichols was named second team all-league as one of the most all-round players in the league.
Ivey’s first year at the helm saw the Dragons increase their scoring output from 58.9 points per game to 70.8 per contest. TU set seven single-season school records as well as the single-game team scoring record with an 108-point output. Tiffin tallied single season records for field goals (731), points per game (70.8), total points (1,983), rebounds (1,045) and field goal percentage (41.2 percent).
Jasmine Watts, Allie Miller and Ali Schirmer all set school records in Ivey’s first season. Watts paced the conference in blocked shots (41) and set a program record with a 66.9 field goal percentage. Miller ended her career as the Dragons’ all-time leader in career field goal percentage, with Schirmer setting the school’s career free throw percentage.
Committed to academic excellence, Tiffin earned the nation’s top team-grade point average among all Division II programs (3.809). That mark was good for the second-best among all NCAA Divisions that season. The following year the team finished fourth in all of Division II in team grade point average.
First Stint in Ohio at Bowling Green State (Assistant Coach – 2016-18)
Ivey made her first stop at the Division I level and in Ohio after joining Bowling Green State University as an assistant coach in 2016. While with the Falcons, Ivey helped develop the post players, helping BGSU finish 38th in the nation in rebounds per game.
For the first time since 2010, BGSU had a student-athlete finish with more than 100 offensive boards as Abby Siefker had a huge year in the paint.
Making a Name for Herself at West Florida (Student-Athlete, GA Coach, Assistant Coach – 2005-16)
The Jay, Fla., native stayed near her hometown for nearly a decade, spending 2005-16 as a student-athlete, graduate assistant coach and assistant coach at DII powerhouse West Florida.
Ivey’s first year as an assistant coach was in 2012 after two campaigns as a graduate assistant. The Argos won the 2014 Gulf South Conference (GSC) title and made two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances during her time. UWF went 20-9 in 2014-15 and advanced all the way to the NCAA regional semifinals.
The UWF double-alumnae had a big part in the recruiting and development of big-time performers. Ivey aided in the growth of the GSC Player of the Year, two GSC Freshman of the Year honorees, an all-region pick, two 1,000-point performers and 10 All-Gulf South Selections. UWF knocked off nine top-25 programs during her time in Pensacola.
Ivey earned four letters as a student-athlete with the Argos after scoring 1,616 points for Jay High School, the third-most in the school’s history. Ivey holds a bachelor’s and master’s in exercise science, both from UWF.
Ivey’s Career Path at a Glance
- University of Toledo (2020-2024) – Associate Head Coach
- Tiffin University (2018-20) – Head Coach
- Bowling Green State University (2016-18) – Assistant Coach
- University of West Florida (2012-16) – Assistant Coach
- University of West Florida (2010-12) – Graduate Assistant Coach
- University of West Florida (2005-10) – Student-Athlete on Women’s Basketball Team
Highlights at a Glance
- Helped Toledo win three MAC Regular Season Titles and the 2022-23 MAC Tournament Title
- One of the two Mid-American Conference assistants to be named to Silver Waves Media’s most impactful mid-major assistant coaches
- Tabbed to participate in the 2024 WBCA Next Generation Institute
- Coached Tiffin to its first-ever win against a nationally ranked team
- Named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty Under 30 honoree list
- Named the WBCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year in 2016
- Participated in the 2015 Center for Coaching Excellence
"I'm both ecstatic and grateful to join Coach Cullop at the University of Miami. Coach Cullop is a legendary leader who has hung banners everywhere she has been. She wins with class and her character remains at the forefront of everything she does. I'm thrilled to be back in my home state and I cannot wait to get to work on the court and in the community."
Associate Head Coach Jessie Ivey
Jessie Ivey was my associate head coach at the University of Toledo. She’s a Florida native and played at West Florida, so she is very well-versed in the state. She spent some time in the MAC before I hired her and I love the fact that she has head coaching experience.
When you’re a head coach, it’s nice to have someone sitting beside you that has been in your shoes, that’s called timeouts and that understands the weight that a head coach feels when you’re making decisions. She helps me not rush to decisions because some of the decisions we’re making about recruiting, about the future of our program, are ones we really need to think about.
She’s an extremely gifted coach; X’s and O’s wise she does her homework. She ran our defense at Toledo and also ran our out of bounds plays, doing a phenomenal job. We were one of the top in the league in both and a lot of that credit goes to her.
When I decided to come down here I was so glad that she said she wanted to come and I cannot wait for our players to get to know her. She’s one of the best relationship builders that I’ve ever worked with and I think our recruits, in addition to our players, are going to really love that about her.
Head Coach Tricia Cullop
