Chadron State College and athletic director Mannie Reinsch announced the hiring of Jalen Little to lead the CSC women’s basketball program as head coach on June 24, 2025. Little is the 12th head coach in program history and the sixth in the program’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC)/Division II history.
Little brings nearly a decade of coaching experience within the RMAC and will be a familiar name for many CSC fans after serving as an assistant for the Chadron State men’s basketball program from 2016-2020 under former Eagles coach Houston Reed.
From 2020-2025, Little served as the lead assistant women’s basketball coach at RMAC foe CSU Pueblo. During Little’s time on staff, the ThunderWolves qualified for four consecutive RMAC tournaments from 2022-25, including a fifth-place finish (18-11, 13-7 RMAC) in the league standings last year. He was instrumental in recruiting Alisha Little, the two-time reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Year who ranked second in Division II in scoring last season with 24.9 points per game.
At CSU Pueblo, Little helped orchestrate a 20-win turnaround for the ThunderWolves in 2021-22, which was tied for the best in the NCAA that year. After the ThunderWolves went 3-13 in a COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season, CSU Pueblo rallied to a 23-9 record the next year, highlighted by a third-place RMAC regular season finish, runner-up finish in the RMAC Tournament and a berth in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Little began his coaching career by spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the Chadron State men’s basketball program under Houston Reed, who coached Little as a player at Otero Junior College. During Little’s tenure, the Eagles had seven All-RMAC selections and 22 All-Academic Honor Roll selections.
As a student-athlete, Little played one season at Alaska Anchorage (Division II, GNAC) before transferring to Otero Junior College. In his one season with the Rattlers, Little averaged 11.6 points and 6.7 assists per game.
Little closed his playing career at the Division I level for Abiliene Christian University (Texas), where he was the Wildcats' starter at point guard for two seasons. He finished among the top six in the NCAA Division I Southland Conference both seasons for assist-to-turnover ratio, carrying a combined 2.3 ratio through the end of his ACU career.
Immediately after his playing career, Little completed a fundraising internship with Abilene Christian athletic director Lee De Leon, who at the time was the youngest athletic director in NCAA Division I.
A native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Little completed his Associate of Arts in psychology from Otero Junior College in 2014 and his Bachelor of Science in communications from Abilene Christian University in 2016. He attended Sierra High School in Colorado Springs.
He and his wife Shantelle have two daughters, Nevaeh and Anaiya.
