Kymesha Alston moves into her third season at Norfolk State in 2020-21 as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball team. Her first two years with the program were wildly successful.
In her second season with NSU, Alston helped lead the Spartans to a 19-11 overall record, 12-4 in the MEAC in 2019-20. They finished second in the league’s regular season standings and had the most overall wins in 18 years, the second-most since joining Division I. They advanced to the MEAC Tournament semifinals for the second year in a row before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.
The 2018-19 campaign saw NSU make its first MEAC Championship game in 14 years and the fourth overall. The team went 17-15 overall and placed fourth in the league at 10-6. Raven Russell earned second-team All-MEAC honors as the program posted its second-straight winning season and its third-straight winning MEAC season.
Chanette Hicks and La’Deja James followed that up with huge campaigns in 2019-20. James was named second-team All-MEAC, while Hicks had one of the greatest seasons in program history. She swept the MEAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards, the first NSU player to earn either one. She ranked second in the nation in steals and 12th in scoring. She and James gave Norfolk State two of the top five scorers in the league.
NSU has gone 36-26 overall in her two seasons, 22-10 in the league.
Prior to coming to NSU, Alston served as an assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Hampton High School for three years. During her time on the Crabbers’ bench, Alston helped coach five all-Peninsula District players.
Prior to her years at Hampton, Alston spent time as the head junior varsity girls’ basketball coach at both Kecoughtan High School and Hampton HS.
Alston also brings experience at the AAU level to the Spartans, having served as the head girls’ basketball coach for the Boo Williams BWSL 15U Alston team in 2017 and assisting the staff of the Newport News Lady Vikings in 2012. In addition, she served as a camp facilitator for the 2011 Boo Williams Summer League.
From 2014 to 2017, Alston competed in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball league – first with the Virginia Lady Stallions and then with the Virginia Lady Warriors.
Alston spent the 2011-12 season in the Greek League, playing for Appollon Kalamarias.
She enjoyed a four-year collegiate basketball career, spending time at both Manhattan and Radford.
During her senior season in 2009-10, Alston led Radford in scoring with 12.1 points and shared the team lead with 6.0 rebounds per game.
Alston’s junior year saw her lead the Highlanders in rebounds (8.3) and field goal percentage (47.8) while ranking second on the team with 11.3 points per game. Alston stood third in the Big South Conference in rebounding, sixth in field goal shooting and 12th in scoring.
She posted seven double-doubles as a junior, including a 10-point, career-best 17-rebound performance in the Big South Tournament. Earlier that season, Alston recorded a career-high 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
Alston appeared in 26 games for Radford in her debut season in 2007-08, averaging 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.
As a freshman in 2005-06, Alston played in 28 games for Manhattan, making eight starts for the Jaspers. Alston posted averages of 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and was second on the team with 17 blocks.
A 2010 graduate of Radford with a bachelor’s in sociology, Alston received her master’s in clinical psychology and counseling from Capella University in 2018 and is a proud member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Alston graduated from Heritage High School in Newport News, Virginia and earned first team All-Peninsula District honors during her junior and senior years. In addition, she was named a Daily Press all-star twice in her prep career and was Heritage’s MVP as a junior and senior.
Alston currently resides in Hampton with her seven-year-old son, Jordan.
