Jelani Townsell begins his first season as Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Newbury College.  Townsell comes to Newbury College from the University of Connecticut where he helped lead the Huskies to the 2011 NCAA National Championship under the supervision of Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun.  During his time at UConn, Townsell was a Graduate Assistant as the Academic Advisor for the Men’s Basketball team.  Townsell was responsible for coordination class schedules, study halls, grade monitoring and assigning tutors for the student athletes.   

Prior to his time at UConn, Townsell served as the Head Assistant for the Men’s Basketball program at Regis College in Weston, MA.  Townsell assisted in facilitating the first men’s basketball program in history at Regis College and was responsible for conducting basketball clinics, camps and newsletters in addition to the shared responsibilities of on court coaching, film exchange, practice plans, recruit database management and academic improvement programming. 

A native of Cincinnati, OH, Townsell received a Bachelors of Science in Sports and Recreation Management in 2007 from Temple University while serving as Men’s Basketball Manager under the supervision of Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.  Townsell went on to receive his Masters in Sports Management in 2011 from UConn while serving as Graduate Assistant.