Jake Mitchell returns to Faulkner for a second stint on the Women's Basketball coaching staff in the 2025-26 season.
Mitchell had a two year tenure from 2021-2023 as men’s assistant basketball coach at his alma mater where he twice helped the Eagles to the national tournament, hosting the first and second rounds both seasons and making the Round of 16 in 2021-22. He coached seven players to All-SSAC honors and four to All-America honors, including two All-Americans for C.J. Hines, with a First Team nod as well as the program's first outright SSAC Player of the Year award in 20 years in 2022-23.
After serving as men's assistant coach, he went to the high school ranks where he spent a season at Alabama Christian Academy and a season at Fayette County, both as head boys basketball coach. He led ACA to a 19-10 record and Fayette County to a 16-7 mark.
Mitchell worked as a student assistant in 2014-15 in Scott Sanderson’s first season as head coach of Faulkner. Upon earning his degree, he served as a graduate assistant at Harding University for one season, helping lead the Bisons to a Regular Season Conference Championship and a spot in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
He then returned to Faulkner as the assistant to Reed Sutton, head women’s basketball coach, from 2016-18. In his first season working with the women’s team, the Lady Eagles improved from 13 wins to 19, and the team got all the way to 26 wins and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament in his second year.
In 2018, he was hired as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Freed-Hardeman by his college coach, Jim Sanderson. Mitchell worked there from 2018-21, serving under Sanderson for one season and current FHU head coach Drew Stutts for the latter two campaigns. Jim’s brother Scott promptly brought him back to Faulkner ahead of the 2021 season to work on his staff a second time.
Mitchell was a key contributor as a guard on Jim Sanderson’s last four Faulkner teams. From 2010-14, he totaled 1049 points, 449 assists, 349 rebounds and 155 steals. He had a career season in 2012-13, playing in all 35 games and tallying 296 points, 137 assists and 100 rebounds. His play helped the Eagles achieve a 29-6 record, claim a Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and reach the Round of 16 in the National Tournament. The team improved from 13 wins his freshman year to 17 and 16 in his sophomore and senior seasons, respectively.
He earned All-SSAC honors in his junior year, All-Division honors in his sophomore and senior years as well as All-Freshman honors in 2010-11. He was also named to the All-Academic team in his last three seasons and earned the Champion of Character distinction from the SSAC in 2012-13. After his time as a student assistant for Scott Sanderson, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Faulkner in 2015 and a master’s in kinesiology from Harding in 2016.
A native of Florence, Ala., Mitchell married the former Emma Herren, another former Faulkner basketball player, in 2018. They have two children Lily and Asher.
