The Le Moyne women’s basketball program and head coach Nick DiPillo have finalized the team’s 2024-25 coaching staff with the announcement of two new additions on Thursday.
DiPillo, who was introduced as the program’s seventh head coach on May 28, has added assistant coaches Casey Filiault and Mya Jackson to his inaugural staff, while retaining Katie Kolinski, who completed her first season with the Dolphins as an assistant coach in 2023-24.
“I could not be more excited to complete my staff here at Le Moyne,” said DiPillo. “The group I have the opportunity to work alongside everyday are not only terrific basketball minds, but they’re terrific people who will work relentlessly to serve our student-athletes and the Le Moyne community.”
Casey Filiault spent the 2023-24 season as an assistant coach at Catholic University of America, helping the nationally-ranked Cardinals compile a 26-3 record, including a 17-1 resume in Landmark Conference play to earn a regular season conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament where the Cardinals won a first-round game against Penn State Behrend.
“Casey is a rising star in this profession,” said DiPillo. “Having known her for many years, I’ve been able to witness first-hand her tireless work ethic, her attention to detail and her dedication to putting the student-athlete experience at the forefront of everything she does. Once I knew I would be joining the Le Moyne community, adding Casey to our staff was an absolute priority for me and I’m thrilled for her to be joining our team.”
Prior to her season in Washington, D.C., Filiault served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons with the DeSales University Bulldogs.
DeSales accumulated a 49-6 record during Filiault’s two seasons on staff, including a 31-1 record in conference play, and a 27-1 record at home. The Bulldogs won the MAC Freedom Championship in 2021-22 and again in 2022-23, and claimed a NCAA Division III Tournament win in both campaigns.
Filiault graduated from DeSales with a M.Ed. in Higher Education.
She earned her undergraduate degree in Physical Education with a Heath Teacher Certification from Kean University, where she was a four-year member of the women’s basketball team. Filiault logged over 1,300 minutes in 80 games played during her time with the Cougars.
During a shortened senior season in 2020-21, Filiault started all 10 games with averages of 7.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
Mya Jackson will join DiPillo’s staff after wrapping up her collegiate playing career in 2023-24 at the University of Cincinnati, where she spent two seasons with the Bearcats after playing three seasons at Seton Hall University.
“I had the opportunity to recruit Mya to Seton Hall when she was coming out of high school and knew through the recruiting process that she would eventually transition into coaching because of her mindset and cerebral approach to the game,” said DiPillo. “After witnessing her success as a player in the BIG EAST and the Big XII, I am very excited that Mya has chosen to begin her coaching career with us. Her experiences at the highest level will impact our student-athletes from Day 1.”
Following a decorated high school career at Wilmington (Ohio) High School, Jackson made an immediate impact during her first season with the SHU Pirates, averaging 10.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 27.0 minutes per game on her way to being named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.
Jackson started all 21 games during a shortened 2020-21 season, averaging 10.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.4 minutes per game to help the Pirates to a 12-5 record in BIG EAST play. She ranked fourth in the BIG EAST with a .417 three-point shooting percentage, and ranked sixth in the league with 1.9 made threes per game.
During her final season with Seton Hall in 2021-22, Jackson started 33 of the team’s 34 games and averaged 32.0 minutes per game. She once again ranked in the top 10 among BIG EAST players in three-point field goal percentage, and reached double figures in scoring 15 times.
Jackson helped the Pirates advance to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, playing all 40 minutes during the team’s 66-65 quarterfinal victory over Creighton. Jackson and the Pirates then went on a run in the 2022 Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), winning five consecutive games to earn a spot in the National Championship game. During a 74-73 win over Middle Tennessee State in the WNIT Semifinals, Jackson provided 13 points and four rebounds with three made threes.
Jackson was named to the All-Academic BIG EAST team in all three of her years at Seton Hall.
In her first season with Cincinnati in 2022-23, Jackson started 28 games with averages of 11.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 32.4 minutes per game.
She scored in double figures during her first nine games with the Bearcats, including a season-best 24-point outing in 45 minutes played during an overtime setback against Toledo.
Jackson scored her 1,000th career point against Memphis on January 14, 2023.
In her graduate season with the Bearcats in 2023-24, Jackson started each of the team’s first five games, but was forced to miss 25 of the final 27 games of the campaign due to injury.
Jackson earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Cincinnati.
During her first season as an assistant coach with the Dolphins in 2023-24, Katie Kolinski aided in the program’s transition to the Division I level and the Northeast Conference.
“My first big recruiting win since starting here at Le Moyne was being able to retain Katie,” said DiPillo. “Her resume in basketball speaks for itself and she is a tireless recruiter who will be an asset for myself, the rest of the staff and of course, our student-athletes. Her eye for talent and her history of success with player development will play a big part in the success we have here on The Heights.”
Le Moyne’s 2023-24 squad put together a 14-2 conference record, advanced to the Northeast Conference Tournament Championship game, and earned an invitation to the WNIT.
Kolinski spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Lafayette College women’s basketball team, and prior to that served as the director of operations at the University at Buffalo during the 2018-19 season.
Kolinski laid the foundation for her coaching career with the Syracuse University men’s basketball team, serving as a student manager and then a graduate assistant with the Orange.
The Dolphins complete 2024-25 roster will be released in the coming days.
https://lemoynedolphins.com/news/2024/6/27/wbbCoachAdditions.aspx
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