Chasity Melvin, a former WNBA All-Star who served as an assistant in the NBA G League last season, has been hired as an assistant coach for Loyola University Maryland’s women’s basketball program.
Melvin became the first female coach in the history of the Charlotte Hornets franchise when she joined their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, last fall. That appointment followed a standout playing career, which started as an undergraduate at NC State and continued during a 12-year stint in the WNBA. Melvin began her duties at Loyola on Tuesday.
“We are very excited to welcome Chasity to our Loyola women’s basketball family,” head coach Joe Logan said. “First and foremost, she is an outstanding person and role model for our team. Chasity has a passion for helping people reach their full potential, and I expect her to be a great mentor to our players. She has also been a proven winner at every level throughout her basketball career.”
Melvin was inducted into NC State’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. The first woman in NC State history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, she led the Wolfpack to four NCAA tournaments, including the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance as a senior in 1998. In that Final Four contest, Melvin set a record for most points scored (37) in an NCAA semifinal game which stood until 2010. She was a Kodak and Women’s Basketball Journal All-American that season, a two-time first team All-ACC performer and the ACC’s Rookie of the Year in 1995.
A first-round draft pick of the former WNBA franchise Cleveland Rockers, Melvin was named a WNBA All-Star during her third season in the league in 2001. She averaged in double figures in six of her first nine seasons, totaling 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Rockers in 2003, and was a part of seven different playoff teams. Melvin played for Cleveland, the Washington Mystics and the Chicago Sky over her 12 seasons in the WNBA.
After working for several years as an ambassador for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an organization named after her former NC State head coach who succumbed to breast cancer 10 years ago, Melvin was accepted into the NBA Player Development department’s Assistant Coaches Program in 2018. The initiative led to her hiring as an assistant for Greensboro last October, where she assisted with player development, scout and gameday preparation, player evaluation and practice planning.
“I am excited to join Coach Logan and the rest of the staff at Loyola,” Melvin said. “I feel like this is a good fit, and a great opportunity for me to learn. I look forward to doing my part to build a winning culture and help the team succeed on and off the court. This is another step for me to become the best coach that I can be by improving my skill sets, teaching and giving back to the game that has given so much to me.”
Melvin is one of seven NC State women’s basketball players to have her jersey retired, and she entered the state of North Carolina’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. A USA Basketball Licensed Coach, she has assisted at the NBPA’s Top 100 High School Basketball Camp, and she served as a basketball consultant for the Team Wall and Carolina Elite AAU programs.
Melvin graduated from NC State in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.
Photo Courtesy Loyola Athletics
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