Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Women's Basketball

Kelly Bond-White is entering her fourth season as the head coach of SIU's women's basketball team in 2025-26. Bond-White was named the 11th women’s basketbal...

Women's BasketballSkip AdHoward, BlakeBond-White, KellyBrown, GregHoward, BlakeNichols, ChesterRussell, HarisonThevenot, PeytonWalker, ClaudiaWebb, Marissa

Chester Nichols completed his third season at Southern Illinois in 2024-25. Nichols joined Kelly Bond-White’s staff in April of 2022 as the associate head coach of the Salukis. Nichols came to Carbondale with a wealth of experience, including stints at West Virginia (2014-19 & 2003-09), Michigan (2012-14), and Kansas (2010-12). He was the associate head coach at West Virginia during his second stint there, and was most recently an assistant coach at Wichita State for three seasons. "We are extremely blessed to welcome Chester into our Saluki family," Bond-White said. "I've known Coach Nichols for over 20 years. Chester is a consistent winner; his preparation in the development of players and game-planning have been key to helping his teams reach their pinnacle. Chester brings an infectious energy and authenticity to draw people to him. It's this nature that has allowed him to build an unrivaled mental rolodex with lasting relationships." A native of Ocala, Florida, Nichols is widely considered one of the nation's top recruiters, and he played an instrumental role in bringing five top-20 recruiting classes to WVU. He was responsible for signing Kysre Gondrezick, who became the fourth overall pick (Indiana Fever) in the WNBA Draft, the highest WNBA Draft pick in program history. West Virginia saw great success during both of Nichols' tenures with the program. Overall, the Mountaineers made five NCAA tournaments and five WNIT appearances, and won at least 21 games in nine season

Claudia Walker finished her third season at SIU as the program's Director of Basketball Internal Operations in 2024-25. Walker came to Carbondale from Texas ...

Harison Russell wrapped up his second season as a graduate assistant on the SIU women's basketball coaching staff in 2023-24. Russell previously worked with ...

Jodi Malichi completed her first season as the athletic trainer for the women's basketball team in 2024-25.

Marissa Webb completed her second season as an assistant coach on the SIU women's basketball coaching staff in 2024-25. “Coach Webb has been a blessing to th...

Peyton Thevenot completed his first season as a graduate assistant on the women's basketball coaching staff in 2024-25. Thevenot was previously on the men's ...