Indiana State women’s basketball head coach Joey Wells has announced the addition of Josh Keister and Janet Eaton as assistant coaches for the 2014-15 season.
Wells is familiar with both assistants, having spent time as an assistant with Eaton at Lamar and with Keister at Missouri Western. The duo joins third year assistant coach Sara Riedeman to round out Wells’ staff.
"I’ve been fortunate in my career to surround myself with great people and I’m excited Josh and Janet are now a part of the Sycamore family,” Wells said. “They bring a wealth of knowledge from a variety of levels of collegiate basketball and we are looking forward to a great season with them on staff."
Keister comes to ISU from Warrensburg, Mo. where he helped lead Division II Central Missouri to a combined 104-46 record in five seasons. The Jennies have posted five Mid America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) top five finishes during his tenure, including the team’s first MIAA regular season championship since 1990-91 in 2013-14 and tournament championships in 2013-14 and runner-up finishes in 2012-13 and 2009-10.
He also helped Nicole Caddell (2011-13) and Keuana Flax (2012-13) to Division II All-American honors and 15 Jennies to All-MIAA honors during his five seasons on staff.
Keister served as an assistant coach at Division I Texas Christian University (TCU), where he helped the Lady Frogs to a 23-12 record and a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference in 2007-08. Their 13-3 conference mark tied for the most league wins in program history. The team qualified for postseason play for the eighth straight year and reached the quarterfinal round of the Women’s NIT. Included in the Frogs’ WNIT run was a third-round victory over Texas Tech, marking their first-ever win over the Lady Raiders.
From 2004-07, Keister was the women’s basketball head coach at Missouri Western. He was also an assistant coach from 1999-2004 and a graduate assistant for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at MWSU.
In his tenure as graduate assistant and assistant coach for the Griffons, Missouri Western advanced to eight straight NCAA Division II Tournaments and averaged over 23 wins per season. During that time, the Griffons won two MIAA regular season championships, two MIAA postseason tournament titles and were ranked No. 1 in the nation twice.
Keister received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mount Mercy (Iowa) College in 1996, where he was a two-year letterman. He also holds a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1999.
In his senior year at Mount Mercy, Keister helped the team achieve its best overall record in school history (29-6) and advance to the round of 16 in the NAIA Tournament. Keister holds all 3-point shooting records there, including career, single season and single-game marks. Prior to attending Mount Mercy, Keister played two seasons at Iowa Lakes Junior College.
Keister and his wife, Kim, have a five-year-old daughter, Alex, and a two-year-old son, Jack.
Eaton arrives in Terre Haute after serving five years as director of athletics at NAIA Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. A coaching veteran with more than 15 years of coaching and administrator experience, Eaton worked with Wells at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas where she served as interim head coach.
Under Eaton’s leadership, Wiley College was a perennial powerhouse the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) and NAIA. During her short tenure, Wiley College has claimed two conference championships and sent one team the 2012-13 women’s basketball team to the NAIA National Tournament. Eaton and her coaching staff were instrumental in landing the 2013 RRAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country championships, which was awarded in April of 2013.
While serving as the interim head coach, she led the Lady Cardinals to the seventh position in the Southland Conference Tournament. Overall, Eaton’s record as interim head coach was 2-3. Before coming to Wiley, Eaton served as assistant women’s basketball coach at Lamar, as well as director of athletics and head women’s basketball coach at Xavier Preparatory High School in New Orleans, La. While at Xavier Prep, she was named Metro Coach of the Year, Co-Catholic Coach of the Year and the Orleans Parish Coach of the Year. Eaton also guided her 2002 team to district, bi-district and regional championships.
Eaton spent 5 years at St. Bernard High School before accepting the job at Xavier Prep. She was coach of the year in 1998 and 1999, leading her team to district and bi-district titles in both years. In addition to coaching, Eaton’s credentials include collegiate playing experience. From 1992-94, she played shooting guard under legendary Coach Mary D. Teamer at Dillard University. Originally from Eastabuchie, Mississippi, Eaton was a prep star at South Jones High School under Phillip James. She helped to lead South Jones to the 1988 Mississippi High School State Championship, completing the season with an undefeated 37-0 record.
Eaton earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Health and Physical Education from Dillard University in 1994. She also received a Master’s of Education from the University of Phoenix in 2001. She has one son.
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