FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Head Sacred Heart University women's basketball coach Jessica Mannetti announced updates to her coaching staff Wednesday afternoon. 

Mannetti announced that after his first season with SHU as an assistant coach, Marc Taney has been promoted to the role of associate head coach. The Pioneers added Jacinda Dunbar and Jen Peel as assistant coaches, while Jayme DeCesare was brought on to be the team's director of basketball operations prior to the start of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Taney had about the best first season someone could ask for in 2023-24, helping guide the Pioneers to Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season and tournament championships, and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. SHU finished the year with an outstanding 24-10 overall record, which included a 15-game win streak. 

Taney most recently was the women's basketball head coach and director of basketball operations at Newbury College for three years. In addition to overseeing both the Nighthawks' women's and men's basketball operation efforts, he recruited for the women's team, and coached both the 2017-18 NECC Player and Rookie of the Year. In recognition of his outstanding season, Taney was named the 2017-18 NECC Coach of the Year. 

Taney also made assistant coaching stops at Springfield and Keene State. Outside of coaching, he also served as the interim director of athletics and director of student involvement and commuter engagement at Emmanuel in Boston.

DeCesare comes to SHU after a successful playing career at conference foe Merrimack. The Johnston, R.I., native started 130 of the 132 games she played with the Warriors, serving as a team captain for two seasons. DeCesare crossed the 1,000-point plateau in 2023-24, finishing her outstanding career with 1,246 points. 

During her playing career, she was named First Team All-NEC in 2023, Second Team in 2024 and to the All-Rookie Team in 2020. She was also tabbed the NEC Women's Basketball Co-Scholar-Athlete in 2024 and the Merrimack Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2023. 

Professionally, DeCesare has served as an athletics intern at York County Community College and as a facilities supervisor at the Johnston Indoor Basketball Recreation Center. At York County Community College, she assisted the athletic director and developed graphics.

DeCesare earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Sports Management from Merrimack in 2023 before graduating with a Master of Science Degree in Management from the same school in 2024.  

Dunbar comes to SHU after spending the last three seasons at Lafayette College as the team's Assistant Coach: Recruiting Coordinator. In her time with the Leopards, she helped guide two players to All-Patriot League recognition and one to All-Defensive Team honors. Lafayette made the Patriot League Tournament all three seasons of her tenure. 

Before Lafayette, Dunbar had professional stops at Monmouth, Saint Francis, Yale, Wesleyan and Southern Connecticut State. At Yale, she was a part of the 2017-18 team that won a program-record 19 games and won the Women's Basketball Invitational tournament, becoming the first Ivy League team to win a national postseason tournament.

Dunbar also served as the Director of Operations for the Northwestern women's basketball program, which appeared in the 2019 Women's National Invitational Tournament championship game.

Dunbar graduated from Quinnipiac with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology in 2012 and received her Master's in Liberal Studies, with a focus in Social Sciences, from Wesleyan in 2015. 


Peel comes to Fairfield after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at American International College. In 2023-24, she helped lead the Yellow Jackets to one of their best seasons in recent memory, as the team won its first NE10 Tournament game since 2019 and it tallied its longest win streak since 2015. Peel's recruits at AIC have earned All-America, All-Region and All-Conference recognition during her tenure. 

Prior to her coaching stint at AIC, Peel was an assistant coach at UMass Boston. In one season with the Beacons, she had a player named First Team All-Little East. 

A successful playing tenure at Saint Anselm College preceded Peel's coaching career. The Mansfield, Mass., native appeared in 50 games with the Hawks, helping the 2018-19 squad make the NCAA Division II Tournament Elite Eight. She graduated from Saint Anselm with a Business degree in May of 2021.