Josh Keister is in his fourth season as an assistant coach for the Jennies basketball program after arriving back at Central Missouri before the 2021-22 campaign. He is no stranger to UCM women’s basketball, as he served as an assistant for the Jennies for five seasons until the 2013-14.
Prior to rejoining the Jennies staff, Keister served as a director of an AAU basketball program in Omaha, Neb.
Before his time with the AAU in Omaha, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Omaha Mavericks women’s basketball team.
Keister joined the Mavericks after spending four seasons on the staff at Indiana State and served as the Sycamore’s interim head coach on Jan. 2, 2018. ISU finished 9-8 under his tenure.
In his second year, Keister guided redshirt senior Cierra Ceazer to All-MVC Honorable Mention honors. Newcomers also filled the roster as redshirt sophomore Ashley Taia finished second in points per game (9.0) as she picked up three MVC Newcomer of the Week awards. Redshirt junior forward Joyea Marshall was a force on the boards for the Sycamores, as she pulled down the MVC’s second-best average of 7.9 per game.
In his first season, Keister helped guide the Sycamores to a 17-13 overall finish and one of the best non-conference performances in program history, going 10-1 overall. Wins against non-conference foes included a win at Big 10 Indiana and the program’s first win over a ranked opponent when it defeated No. 25 St. John’s on its home court.
Keister joined the Sycamores after spending five seasons on the staff at Division II Central Missouri. During his first assistant coach stint with the Jennies, he helped lead the Division II powerhouse to a combined 104-46 record in five seasons. The Jennies posted five MIAA top-five finishes during his tenure, including the team’s first MIAA regular season championship since 1990-91 in 2013-14 and tournament championships in 2013-14 and runner-up finishes in 2012-13 and 2009-10.
Before Central Missouri, Keister served as an assistant coach at Division I Texas Christian University (TCU), where he helped the Lady Frogs to a 23-12 record and a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference in 2007-08. Their 13-3 conference mark tied for the most league wins in program history. The team qualified for postseason play for the eighth straight year and reached the quarterfinal round of the Women’s NIT. Included in the Frogs’ WNIT run was a third-round victory over Texas Tech, marking their first-ever win over the Lady Raiders.
From 2004-07, Keister was the head coach at Missouri Western. He was also an assistant coach from 1999-2004 and a graduate assistant for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at MWSU.
In his tenure as graduate assistant and assistant coach for the Griffons, Missouri Western advanced to eight straight NCAA Division II Tournaments and averaged over 23 wins per season. During that time, the Griffons won two MIAA regular season championships, two MIAA postseason tournament titles and were ranked No. 1 in the nation twice.
He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mount Mercy (Iowa) College in 1996, where he was a two-year letterman. He also holds a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1999.
Keister and his wife, Kim, have a daughter, Alex, and a son, Jack.
