Indiana University Northwest

Jesse Ford begins his fourth season as the Indiana University Northwest Women's Basketball Head Coach.

Early in the 2023-24 season, Ford won his 100th career game, which was a victory over Huntington.

Ford guided the RedHawks to a 17 win season season and a fifth place finish in the CCAC standings and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. 

In his third season with IUN, Ford  saw sophomore Jessica Carrothers pick-up WBCA All-American, CCAC Newcomer and Player of the Year honors. Carrothers was also named first team all-conference, while Tiara Jackson was picked for the second team and Makayla Best garnered honorable mention all-league. 

During his second season on the sidelines at IUN, he led the RedHawks to the NAIA Tournament and a second place finish in the CCAC regular season standings with a 24-8 mark. IUN won 10 straight games from Jan. 7 until Feb. 11, which also includes a pair of 100 point performances. 

Off the court, Samantha Martin, Sarah Martin, Alyna Santiago, Michaela Schmidt and Madison Wirey were named NAIA Scholar Athlete. Also under his guidance, Jackson, Sarah Martin, Karli Miller and Michaela Schmidt also garnered CCAC all-conference accolades.   

In his first year with the RedHawks, they finished the regular season 19-10 overall, and 14-8 in regular season conference play. The RedHawks began the year ranked 10^th in the preseason CCAC rankings, and finished the year as the sixth seed going into the CCAC Conference Tournament. 

Prior to IU Northwest, Ford spent four seasons as the head coach at Fisher College in Boston.

Ford brings more than a decade of college coaching experience, mostly at the NAIA-level. Prior to coaching Fisher College's women's basketball, he was an assistant coach for Fisher College's men's basketball program, and served as the associate men's basketball head coach in his final season.

During the 2018-19 season, Fisher College Women’s Basketball had their winningest record in program history after finishing with a 19-10 record and second consecutive trip to the A.I.I. Post-Season Conference Tournament. In that season, Ford’s team excelled on the defensive end. They finished the season ranked first in the nation in defensive field goal percentage, No. 1 in defensive 3 point field goal percentage, and fifth in the nation in overall scoring defense.

Ford got his start in coaching at the University of Idaho as he was an undergraduate student assistant for the women's basketball programs during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.  During the 2013-14 season, Ford was a Graduate Assistant coach with the University of Idaho men’s basketball program. He earned his master’s degree in Movement and Leisure Science with a Concentration in Sport Psychology.