Wagner College Athletics

Heather Jacobs embarks on her fifth season as head coach of the Wagner College women’s basketball program. Jacobs was introduced as the ninth head coach in program history back on April 20, 2016. Regarded as a rising star in the coaching profession, Jacobs has been instrumental in the development of several Seahawks, both on and off the court.
 
The Seahawks built upon the success as under Coach Jacobs, the program qualified for the postseason for the second straight season. Coach Jacobs’ squad narrowly rewrote the conference history books as they nearly defeated the top-seed, Robert Morris, which would have been only the second occurrence that a No. 8 seed would upset the top-seed, in men’s or women’s conference tournament history. 
 
Collectively, the Green & White finished the year ranking in the top-three in the circuit in assists (13.8 apg), turnover margin (+0.7), and placed in the top-five in steals (fourth, 8.0 spg).

In conference-only contests, Wagner was the most efficient shooting team from the free-throw line, converting at a 75.4 percent clip. The Seahawks finished third in assists (13.6 apg), turnover margin (+3.78), and ranked in the top-five in steals (9.1 spg) and assists/turnover ratio (0.8).

Among all teams in Division I, the Seahawk defense forced 19.43 turnovers during the season, which ranked 34th nationally.  
 
Coach Jacobs continued to mentor and develop her athletes, with sophomore Emilija Krista Grava turning in a breakout second season. Krista Grava was the NEC’s second-leading scorer (15.7 ppg) en route to being tabbed to the All-NEC First Team. She ranked in the top-ten in field goal percentage (46.6%), free-throw percentage (77.1%), while placing among the top-15 rebounders (6.0 rpg). In addition to the league honors, Krista Grava was recognized by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association (MBWA), collecting third-team honors. 
 
In addition to Krista Grava, Jacobs oversaw the improvement of veteran Seahawk, Khaleah Edwards, who finished the year as the team’s second-leading scorer (11.0 ppg) and helped on the boards (5.3 rpg). Edwards found her rhythm from the outside in Jacobs’ offense, as she connecting on nearly 35.0 percent from the outside, while averaging 2.0 made threes a game, which was sixth-best in the conference. 
 
In 2018-19, it marked the first step forward for the program. Predicted to finish tenth in the league’s preseason poll, the Seahawks doubled its Northeast Conference (NEC) win total from a season ago, finishing the year with a 10-20 overall record and 8-10 in league tilts. The Green & White qualified for the NEC postseason for the first time in five years and first under the direction of Coach Jacobs.
 
Coach Jacobs was pivotal in the development of Taylah Simmons and newcomer Krista Grava. Simmons went on to become just the fourth women’s basketball player in league history to garner the Most Improved Player award while earning Second Team honors. For Krista Grava, she was tabbed to the All-Rookie Team. 

In four short seasons, Jacobs has now guided two student-athletes to earn a major conference award, while having at least one player being named to an All-NEC Team in each season. Among those that have flourished under the guidance of Coach Jacobs are former Seahawks, Sierra Clark, and Kerstie Phills. 
 
Clark, who spent one season at Wagner as a graduate transfer, played for Coach Jacobs at Adelphi. In her lone season on Grymes Hill, Clark was nominated among 30 honorees for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year as well as signing a professional contract with Arxil Pontevedra of the European Basketball League. Named the 2017-18 NEC Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year in addition to earning a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, Clark, garnered First Team All-NEC honors as well as collecting Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association (MBWA) Second Team honors after being ranked second in the NEC in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounding (9.7).  
 
Phills went on to claim the 2016-17 NEC Rookie of the Year as well as earning All-NEC Second Team honors. Phills became just the third Seahawk in program history to ever be named the league’s Rookie of the Year, joining former standouts Meredith Kearns (1998-99) and Jasmine Nwajei (2013-14). Phills was the conference-leading freshman scorer at 16.2 points per game (in conference-only games), which ranked fourth among all-league players and 13.1 points per game overall, a figure that ranked seventh in the circuit.
 
Phills went on to capture a program-record eight NEC Rookie of the Week honors while finishing the season shooting 48.1 percent from the field (2nd in the NEC) and 42.9 overall (ranking among the top-10).
 
Jacobs arrived on Grymes Hill after spending six seasons as head coach at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, leading the Panthers to tremendous success during her tenure.
 
Back in 2014-15, Jacobs led her squad to a 28-4 overall record and an 18-2 mark in the Northeast 10 (NE-10), claiming the program’s first-ever league championship and hosting the NCAA Division II East Regional. During the season, Adelphi ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation and tied a program record for most wins in a single-season, with Jacobs earning ECAC Division II and All-MBWA Coach of the Year honors. 
 
During her six years at Adelphi, Jacobs guided the Panthers to four consecutive winning seasons, including a pair of 20-plus win campaigns, while amassing an overall record of 101-72 (.584), including a 65-61 (.516) mark in the NE-10. 
 
Before she arrived at Adelphi, where Jacobs was also an assistant athletic director, she spent three years as the head coach, senior woman’s administrator (SWA) at Daniel Webster College, a Division III institution in Nashua, NH.

For the 2009-10 season, she helped lead the Eagles to a school-record 20 wins (20-6) as well as capturing the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) regular-season title. For her efforts, she was tabbed NECC Coach of the Year. In 2008-09, Jacobs directed the Eagles to a 17-11, attaining the program’s first winning season and postseason appearance in a decade. The Eagles advanced to the conference’s inaugural championship game.

At Daniel Webster, Coach Jacobs secured 47 wins, going 37-17 over her final two seasons. Being hired as the youngest head coach in the NCAA in 2007, she inherited a program that won just eight games the previous year and helped guide the Eagles to double-digit wins (10) in her first season.

In addition to her coaching duties at Daniel Webster, she also served as the athletic program’s senior woman administrator.

Before her appointment at Daniel Webster, she spent one year as an assistant coach at Norwich University. The Lady Cadets posted a 24-4 overall record and advanced to the conference tournament championship game before earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

A native of Stoughton, MA, Jacobs is a 2006 graduate of Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH, where she earned magna cum laude honors with a Sports and Recreation Management major, and a minor in Marketing.

On the hardwood, Jacobs was a two-time NE-10 Conference All-Academic selection while garnering Second Team accolades in her final season after leading the Ravens in scoring and the league in free-throw shooting percentage. A two-time team captain, Jacobs was a two-time team MVP and ranks among the top-20 on the Ravens’ all-time scoring list and rebounding list at the time of her graduation.