JACKIE SMITH CARSON Associate Head Coach Fifth Season Furman '00 Associate head coach Jackie Smith Carson, who joined the Dukes' staff in 2005, coordinates JMU's recruiting and scheduling. She is also in charge of the Dukes' post play. Smith Carson is well respected on the national level, and in 2009 she was among an elite group of five coaches to receive a "Rising Star" award. The award, sponsored by the website BasketballScoop.com and ONS Performance™, makers of Critical Reload™, honored five associate or assistant coaches. Coaches were evaluated in the areas of recruiting, player development, team development/scouting, leadership and administration. Nominations for the honor were made by coaches, and the winners were selected by a panel of head and assistant coaches.
She was named to the Southern Conference alltournament team in 1997 and 2000 and was a 12-time conference Player of the Week selection, the most by a Furman athlete in any sport in school history.
Following her graduation from Furman, Smith Carson played for professional teams in Belgium and Israel from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, she was an assistant coach for the 15-and-under AAU national champion Fairfax (Va.) Stars.
Smith Carson continues to hold Furman career records for free throws (724) and double-doubles (52). She also ranks second on the school's career scoring (1,920) and rebounding (1,057) lists and fourth on the career blocked shots list (99).
Smith Carson holds a bachelor of science degree in health and exercise science from Furman.
She was inducted into Furman's Hall of Fame in September 2005.
In Smith Carson's four seasons at JMU, the Dukes have averaged nearly 25 wins per season while going 99-33 overall and have participated in postseason play every year. In 2007 Smith Carson was among a select number of coaches chosen to participate in the Black Coaches Association's "Achieving Coaching Excellence" program. The program, for ethnic minority male and female basketball coaches, is a collaborative effort of the BCA, the NCAA Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics. A 2000 graduate of Furman, Smith Carson came to JMU from Bucknell, where she was an assistant coach from 2003-05. Smith Carson was twice named Southern Conference Player of the Year at Furman (1998, 1999). A threetime (1998, 1999, 2000) first-team All-Southern Conference honoree, she also won Furman's Edna Hartness Female Athlete of the Year award in 1999. She served as team captain as a junior and senior and was voted the team's most valuable player three years (1998, 1999, 2000).
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Smith Carson is married to Rob Carson, assistant director of Student Athlete Services at JMU.