Governors State University announced the hiring of Tonishea Mack as the new women’s basketball head coach and assistant athletics director. Mack begins her duties on August 16.
“I am extremely excited and grateful for this opportunity at Governors State University,” said Mack. “I look forward to joining a great team, program, and university. I am fired up to get on the court and work with this great group of young ladies. I want to motivate and inspire them to be successful on and off the court.”
A Park Forest native, Mack is well-acquainted with the Jaguars basketball program, having served as an assistant coach during the program’s inaugural varsity season in 2015-16 and the start of the 2016-17 season. She also spent a year on the bench with the club team in 2014-15. Mack left GSU in November 2017 to become assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Chicago State, where she served two seasons.
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Mack worked as an assistant coach at Marian Catholic High School from 2012-14, helping the Spartans to an Illinois Class 4A State Championship in 2013.
Mack played three years of Division I basketball at Grambling State from 2009-12. She led the Lady Tigers in scoring (9.8 points per game) as a senior, ranking in the Top 10 in scoring and rebounding in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Mack was also a two-year captain and named to the SWAC All-Academic Team. Her collegiate career started at Sheridan (WY) College, where she was named a National Junior College Athletic Association Honorable Mention All-American and Player of the Year in the Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference. Mack played locally at Rich East High School, where she graduated as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Mack earned a B.A. in psychology from Grambling State (2012) and a M.S. in education from Northern Illinois (2017).
“We are very excited to bring Coach Mack back to the GSU Family,” stated GSU Director of Athletics Tony Bates. “T-Mack has the I.Q. and drive to take our women’s basketball team to the next level in a tough conference. I feel she is more than ready to lead the Jaguars to new heights.”
A resident of Calumet City, Mack is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
