Northern Illinois University women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen announced the addition of Imani Gordon to the Huskies’ coaching staff.
“We are excited to welcome Imani to the Huskie family,” Carlsen said. “She brings valuable experience to our program both as an exceptional player at the Division I level as well as her coaching background.”
Gordon comes to DeKalb after spending six seasons on the women’s basketball coaching staff at Notre Dame College, including the last two as head coach. In her first season at the helm of the Falcons, Notre Dame College went 15-14 with a 13-9 record in the Mountain East Conference. The Falcons reached the semifinals of the conference tournament behind All-American Jada Marone’s 24.5 points per game in the two tournament games.
In her four years as an assistant, NDC went 78-32 with a 60-22 MEC record. In 2020 NDC won a program-record 26 games, reached the conference tournament title game and qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in program history. The Falcons followed up that season with a 14-4 record in a shortened 2020-21 campaign that saw NDC reach the MEC Tournament semifinals for the third time in four years. During her time at NDC, Gordon was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 list three times.
“I want to thank Lisa for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to continue to do what I love,” said Gordon. “She has done a great job of building a successful program and I look forward to continuing that success, as well as contributing to future MAC championships. I can’t wait to work with these amazing student-athletes and staff.”
Gordon played collegiately at Cleveland State, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She was a three-time All-Horizon League selection and earned First Team honors in 2014 and 2015. Gordon led the Vikings in scoring as a senior in 2015 with over 16 points per game and averaged 6.7 rebounds per game as Cleveland State reached the Horizon League semifinals and earned a berth into that season’s WNIT. She finished her career in the top-10 all time at Cleveland State in scoring and rebounding. Gordon started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at her alma mater for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
