Liberty Women’s Basketball Welcomes Former Pro Player as Coordinator of Digital Services

From earning MVP of a British professional league championship to working as the director of marketing for the Chris Paul Basketball Academy, the experience Jazmine Charles has accumulated on and off the court makes her a valuable asset to the Liberty women’s basketball team, as she steps into the role of coordinator of digital services.

Charles, who also serves as director of leadership performance and student services, has an extraordinary resume – she has played professionally and worked with some notable names in the basketball world. 

But all these opportunities started when she became a standout basketball player at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

“I think in college I surprised a lot of people. I had Division I offers but I chose to go to play Division II,” Charles said. “I also surprised myself. My junior year I was an All-American.”

While attending Lenoir-Rhyne University, Charles graduated as the fifth-leading scorer with 1,605 career points in program history. As a junior, she was crowned South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and Southeast Region Player of the Year.

After graduating, Charles moved to Europe to play professionally. During her three-year stay, she played in both the United Kingdom and Romania. 

She continued to receive accolades while playing overseas, winning the National British League championship and earning MVP honors for the Essex Blades.

“That was my first time ever winning a national-championship-type game,” Charles said. “For me to win MVP honors, like I told my teammates then, to me it was such a group effort. I definitely feel like I took on the leadership role, but everyone stepped up as much as they could that game.”

While playing for the Essex Blades, Charles also earned her master’s degree in marketing, advertising, and media from the University of Essex. 

“It was tough,” Charles said. “The way European schools are compared to American schools is completely different. In order to graduate you had to write a 15,000-word paper – about a 60-70-page paper – but I made it through.” 

Charles became a volunteer coach to further her knowledge of the game and continue working in the sport she loves, spending a season as an assistant coach at Catawba College.

After spending time as an assistant coach, Charles joined NBA star Chris Paul’s academy as a marketing director and basketball skills trainer. While working there she coached AAU teams, training basketball players of all ages.

“I think the biggest thing for me while working there was the relationships I built. I trained kids from kindergarten all the way up to high school, ‘’ Charles said. “It was just a fun experience, being able to watch those kids grow over three years and watch their growth on and off the court. I don’t think I could have asked for a better job to start with right after my career ended.”

With the experience Charles has acquired on the court and off the court, and as an intern for both Turner Sports Broadcasting and the Charlotte Hornets, she hopes she’ll be able to not only help the Lady Flames with basketball but with all things life throws at them.

“I’m definitely going to take a lot of pride in wanting to build a relationship with these girls,” Charles said. “I’ve done it all, I’ve been in their shoes, so I’m going to be able to give them a little bit of guidance throughout this year.”

Emmanuel Adamson is a Social Media Manager. Follow him on Twitter at @Eadamason12.