#29: Keith Chesley is an assistant men's basketball coach at Army West Point. In this show he shares so much from leadership, building a culture, being ready, having a whatever it takes mentality, finding a way, and just figuring it out.
Before getting to West Point he came from James Madison, were he served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the 2020-21 season. In his role, he was responsible for all day-to-day operational aspects within the program including player development, team travel, budgeting, equipment, new arena design and game scheduling. With his assistance, the Dukes had a worst-to-first turnaround from the season before. JMU claimed the CAA regular season title and earned the top seed in the conference tournament for the first time in 28 years.
Prior to joining the Dukes' staff, he spent the 2019-20 season at Georgia Southern as the Director of Basketball Operations. The Eagles went 20-13 and advanced to the Sun Belt semifinal, but the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The year before that, he served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Stetson University.
Chesley got his start in coaching at Florida State, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2016-18. The Seminoles advanced to the NCAA tournament both years he was there, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2018. Six members of the team went on to sign NBA contracts.
Chesley owns a bachelor's degree in liberal studies with a concentration in special education from the University of Maine at Augusta, where he was a four-year star on the court. He is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,119 career points. Chesley also enjoyed success in the classroom. A four-time United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Academic All-American, he was also named the organization's National Student-Athlete of the year in 2015. Chesley additionally earned his master's in sports management from Florida State University in 2018.