During her 11 seasons at her alma mater, former Chicago State women’s basketball player Renada Blackburn has worked with the team’s post players, film exchange and academic progress.

Since the 2010-11 season, over 13 Cougars have made conference all-academic teams. The women’s basketball team has recorded higher APR scores than the NCAA average including a stretch where it posted such numbers from 2010-14 that included two single-season 1,000 APR scores during that time.

In her coaching career, Blackburn has coached six of the top 10 scorers in the school’s Division I history while also coaching 24 all-conference players, including six who earned first team selections.

Blackburn’s banner year as an assistant was in the 2010-11 season as the team set a school record with 24 wins, claiming the Great West regular season and tournament championships. It was the school’s first women’s basketball postseason appearance, which ended in a trip to the semifinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational. CSU also had two members make the Great West All-Conference team (Courtney Waldon, Tressa Beckel). Caila Desroches won Sixth Woman of the Year, was named to the Great West Conference All-Tournament Team and won conference tournament MVP honors.

A former player for head coach Angela Jackson, Blackburn was a four-year letter winner (2002-06).  She averaged 7.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and graduated fourth all-time on the Cougars’ Division I rebound list (621). Her 8.4 rebounds in the 2003-04 season ranked 87th among all Division I players while her 8.5 rebounds in the 2004-05 year placed her 73rd in the nation. 

The 2004-05 All-Academic Mid-Continent Conference player graduated from Chicago State in 2006 with a degree in psychology.