Former Chicago State volleyball standout Shakeila Castile-Jones enters her first season as the associate head coach and has spent the past four seasons on the coaching staff at her alma mater.

Last season, Castile-Jones tutored three student-athletes to capture Academic All-Great West Conference accolades and guided Mazvita Maziveyi to finish among the GWC leaders in service aces.

Castile-Jones began her coaching career in the fall of 2006 following a stellar four-year career with the Cougars. She finished the season as the interim head coach for CSU after starting out as a student assistant coach and finished with a 1-15 record.

During the 2007 season, Castile-Jones helped the Cougars finish with a 6-25 ledger and captured their first-ever Division I postseason victory following a four-set victory over NJIT at the Independent Tournament. She also helped Hanya Minta earn Honorable Mention All-Independent accolades at the end of the season.

Castile-Jones competed on the Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP) in the summer of 2009 that included stops at Chicago’s North Avenue Beach. In addition, she played professional volleyball overseas in Indonesia for Jakarta Popsivo Pawan in the spring of 2008.

Castile-Jones currently holds school records for career blocks (227) and single-season solo blocks (38). In addition to competing in volleyball for the Cougars, she was also a member of the CSU women’s track and field team and served for as a manager for three years on the CSU men’s basketball team.

In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Castile-Jones was a four-time Academic All Mid-Continent Conference honoree in volleyball and track & field.

A native of Chicago, Castile-Jones graduated from CSU in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in communications, media arts and theatre with a minor in radio and television broadcasting.