NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State Director of Track & Field/ Cross Country Jeff Bovee announced the hiring of DeShaun Jordan as the assistant sprints coach for the Redbirds on Friday morning. Jordan spent the previous two years serving the Redbirds' track & field program as a volunteer assistant coach and graduate assistant. He replaces Rodney Burkes, who left the program to pursue other opportunities in Oklahoma.
As a volunteer assistant and graduate assistant for the Redbird track & field sprints program over the last two years, Jordan helped guide the sprints/hurdles group to seven All-Valley performances and one MVC individual championship during the 2018-19 indoor campaign and seven All-Valley performances, two MVC championships and one NCAA West Prelims qualifier in the outdoor season.
During the shortened 2019-20 indoor season, Jordan was a part of the staff that led the ISU sprinters to four All-Valley performances. Since joining the Redbirds in a coaching capacity in the 2018-19 season, Jordan has been a part of four MVC team championships.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Jordan assisted with team travel operations, planning and execution of home meets and on-campus recruiting as a graduate assistant.
"DeShaun has been with our program for seven years and, because of this, I have a strong working knowledge of his work ethic, his track and field IQ and his passion for this Redbird program," said Bovee. "He was a key sprinter on our 2018 MVC championship team and also on our staff in a coaching role for the 2019 championship team. DeShaun is an Illinois native and has great recruiting contacts in our backyard. I am very excited to hire an alum to join our coaching staff."
Jordan has been part of the Redbird track & field family since 2013 when he started his career as a sprinter on the ISU track & field team. During his time as a student-athlete, Jordan was a member of the Redbird men's track & field team that brought home their first conference indoor team title in 19 years when Illinois State were crowned the MVC Champions in 2018.
His 100m time of 10.54 seconds was ranked No. 10 on the Illinois State track & field top-10 list during his time as a student-athlete and he is a member of the third fastest 4x100-meter relay squad in Illinois State track & field history with a combined time of 40.04 seconds. Jordan is a two-time All-MVC honoree, an NCAA West Prelims qualifier and was a member of the 2017 MVC Champion 4x100-meter relay team.
"I am beyond blessed and honored to be continuing my journey with my track and field family here at Illinois State University," Jordan said. "I am so thankful to Coach Bovee and the athletic department for this opportunity and I look forward to working alongside him and the entire coaching staff to continue bringing championships to ISU."
Jordan graduated from Illinois State with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 2018 and a Master of Science in Recreational Management in 2020. He is a USA Track & Field Level I and Level II certified coach.
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