Kelsey Michaels enters her fourth season as the full-time assistant coach with JCU Women's Basketball in the 2025-2026 academic year.
In her first three seasons, Michaels helped to steer young JCU teams to the OAC Tournament. The Blue Streaks tabbed 13-13 records in both 2022-23 and 2023-24 before improving to a 19-7 record in 2024-25. Besides her valued work with the team's athletes, Michaels has helped to organize youth basketball camps on campus. She leads the way with graphics and social media, amongst other areas. Â
Michaels previously worked at the National Basketball Academy (TNBA), located in Eastlake, Ohio. She was the Girls TNBA Director, tripling the size of the program and branching out in Northeast Ohio in the three years she was in that role. Making connections with coaches, players and families was a large part of what she did and will continue to be important in her new role.
Her collegiate athletic career was derailed by injury, so in her senior year at Ursuline, she was hired as a student assistant coach. In the following season, she worked as a part-time assistant at Ursuline.Â
The Clyde, Ohio native enjoyed an impressive high school career, being a member of the 1,000-point club and having almost 1,000 rebounds as a forward. She also had multiple honors at the conference, district and state levels during her high school career before attending Ursuline College.
She has also been a professional trainer and has done skill development for the last four years.Â