Jalie Mitchell concluded her third season as the head coach of her alma mater by leading North Texas to its most wins in 12 years and its best finish in a conference tournament in 16 years.
In 2017-18, the Mean Green owned one of the nation’s top defenses, holding opponents to an average of just 56.2 points per game, the 15th-best mark in the country and the greatest in program history. They finished with a 17-14 record to achieve their first winning season in 12 years. In the Conference USA Tournament, UNT reached the semifinals for the first time since Mitchell’s senior season in Denton in 2001-02.
They defeated Charlotte twice, a program they’d never beaten previously, and in the C-USA quarterfinals they defeated Louisiana Tech for the first time in school history.
Also in her third season, Mitchell guided junior guard Terriell Bradley to an all-conference first-team honor, the program’s first in nine years and just its third in 15 seasons. In addition, freshman Lauren Holmes was named to the conference’s all-freshman team.
North Texas posted a program-best 3.33 grade-point average, and in the 2018 offseason, recruited two NJCAA All-Americans, one more than it had recruited in its 41-year history.
In each of her three seasons at North Texas, Mitchell has improved on the program’s previous record, more than doubling the win total in her first season in 2015-16.
Mitchell played at North Texas from 1998-2002 and was a four-time all-conference selection and the 2002 Sun Belt Player of the Year after averaging 19.4 points per game. She is the all-time leading scorer at UNT with 1,764 points and her number 44 was retired on her senior night.
She is part of the winningest senior class in North Texas history, putting together a 77-39 record, including 42-4 at home. The Mean Green made back-to-back appearances to the WNIT in 2001 and 2002.
In 2007, Mitchell was inducted into the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame along with college teammate Rosalyn Reades.
Mitchell had two stints as an assistant coach at UNT, including one-year under current Texas head coach Karen Aston. Mitchell followed Aston to UT where she served as an assistant for three years. At Texas, Mitchell was instrumental in the recruiting of eventual top-10 WNBA draft pick Ariel Atkins and 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year and All-American Brooke McCarty.
In her three seasons at Texas, the team combined for a 60-41 record. The Longhorns made the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015, their first since 2008.
In May of 2015, Mitchell became the Mean Green’s eighth head coach and took what she described as her “dream job”.
In her first season, Mitchell took over a program that had won five games the previous season. For her first career win as a head coach, the Mean Green beat the No. 17 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Oklahoma. It was the first time a Mean Green team had defeated a ranked opponent in program history.
UNT posted an 11-19 record and won its first C-USA Tournament game with a 79-74 win over Florida Atlantic.
North Texas had a noticeable increase in offense in her first season as the Mean Green improved their field goal percentage by 7.23 percent — the largest improvement in the country. It was also the sixth-highest shooting percentage in North Texas history.
In 2016-17, the Mean Green improved on their overall record by a game. They won eight Conference USA games, the most since they joined the conference in 2013-14, and defeated UTEP in El Paso for the first time in program history, and The team reached the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament for the first time.
Mitchell began her collegiate coaching career in 2008 as an assistant coach with the Mean Green under Shanice Stephens. She spent two seasons at North Texas under Stephens before taking on the same position at UNC-Wilmington for the 2010-11 season. Mitchell helped the Seahawks finish with a 24-9 record and reach the second round of the WNIT, both program bests.
In addition to the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame, Mitchell was inducted into the Duncanville ISD Athletic Hall of Honor in October of 2015.