Jessica Olmstead joined Longwood's bench as an assistant coach in May, 2018, reuniting with head coach Rebecca Tillett after the pair built Forest Park High School’s girls’ basketball program into a Virginia powerhouse.
The team has seen three straight seasons of growth with Olmstead on the bench. In year three, the Lancers broke a variety of team records. The team posted its best Big South winning percentage (.667), highest Big South finish (No. 3) and highest overall winning percentage (.560) while also tying the program record for overall wins (14) since joining the Big South in 2012-13. The team also finished went 14-11 to finish above .500 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. In addition, the team received an invitation to its first Division I postseason tournament with a bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
In addition, five players receive postseason honors from the Big South, a program best, with forward Akila Smith being named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big South. Kyla McMakin and Smith both were named to the All-Big South first team, the first time the program has had two first-teamers in the same season since joining the Big South. Tra’Dayja Smith was also an Honorable Mention, and Adriana Shipp nabbed a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Smith and McMakin both garnered in-state recognition, as they were named to the VaSID first team, and Smith was named the VaSID Defensive Player of the Year. Smith was one of the top shot-blockers in the nation, finishing in the top five in both blocks and blocks per game. She set the single-season blocks record for a second straight year while also breaking the career and single-game blocks records.
That season comes on the heels of one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation in her second season with the Lancers in 2019-20. The nine-win improvement tied for the 12th best improvement in Division I, and the team tied a record with eight Big South wins, first round hosting privileges in the Big South Championship, and multiple team and individual records. In addition, Kyla McMakin was tabbed as an All-Big South first team selection, with Dayna Rouse earning her second straight selection to the all-conference second team. McMakin was also named the Big South Freshman of the Year while leading the conference in scoring and setting the school’s freshman scoring record. Tra’Dayja Smith finished fourth in the nation in assists per game while shattering the single season record for assists. Anne-Hamilton Leroy was named to the All-Big South freshman team as well. Defensively, forwards Akila Smith and Dayna Rouse each broke the school’s previous single season blocks record, with Smith swatting a whopping 73 shots to shatter the previous record of 55. Rouse was second-all time in the single-season records after blocking 59 shots.
Olmstead, a 2018 Ashtabula County Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, spent five seasons as Tillett’s top assistant at Forest Park from 2008-13, during which she helped Longwood’s first-year head coach amass three Northwest Region Championships and a pair of Virginia State Tournament appearances at the Woodbridge-based high school.
“The first word that comes to mind when thinking about Coach Olms is ‘reunited,’” said Tillett, who took over the Longwood program in April. “She was critical to our success and team-first culture at Forest Park High School. She is family to me, she knows how I operate, and she knows what we want to build here at Longwood. She will be a huge support to our staff and women as we begin this journey together.”
A coaching veteran with more than 10 years of experience, Olmstead spent six total seasons at Forest Park before moving on to C.D. Hylton High School, also in Woodbridge. She spent three more seasons on the Hylton bench from 2014-17 and was promoted to associate head coach in November, 2016. In the 2017-18 season, Olmstead was the co-head boys’ basketball coach at Graham Park Middle School, leading the team to an 8-1 record and a trip to the Eastern Regional Championship.
“I admire Coach Olms’ integrity, competitive spirit, and the way she cares about young people. She is a gifted teacher and will bring immediate value to the court. As a high school coach, she has been on the other side of the recruiting process and will connect well with players and families. I am grateful she is a Lancer.”
At both C.D. Hylton and Forest Park High School, Olmstead was involved in all aspects of the program, including facilitating practice plans, scouting opponents, implementing a conditioning schedule and serving as director of the summer camp programs.
Olmstead aided in the development of several student-athletes who went on to play collegiately, including Division I scholarship players at Virginia, George Washington, Dartmouth, Georgia Southern and Stony Brook.
“I’m honored to join Coach Tillett’s staff, and look forward to being a member of the Longwood family,” Olmstead said. “When I met with Troy Austin and the athletics department staff, the spirit of Longwood resonated with me. It reinforced my excitement to be a part of this great university.
“Building relationships is essential to helping our current young women and future Lancers achieve their goals on and off the court. I’m excited to begin the process of developing them into better players and confident young women. I’ve seen firsthand how Coach Tillett makes a difference in student-athletes’ lives, and it is truly inspiring. I look forward to learning and growing under her leadership once again. I fully support her vision for this program, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Hall of Fame this past April, Olmstead totaled more than 1,600 points in her high school career to break Conneaut High School’s scoring record for both the boys’ and girls’ programs. She was twice named NEC Player of the Year and earned All-Ohio first team honors as a senior after leading Conneaut to a 21-3 record and the program’s first regional appearance in school history.
After her decorated prep career, Olmstead went on to play collegiately at Youngstown State from 2001-04 where she became a starter in her final two seasons, averaging 10.0 points per game as a sophomore and 8.0 as a junior. She amassed 176 assists and 103 steals and averaged 4.2 rebounds per game during her three seasons at Youngstown State and was honored with the team Hustle Award and Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2003.
After her run at Youngstown State, Olmstead capped her college career at Mercyhurst, where she captained the team and averaged 11.7 points per game as a senior in 2004-05. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in elementary education in 2006. In addition to her coaching experience, she has also held teaching posts in elementary and middle school.
