Union University Athletics

Merideth Richardson Jacobs played for the women’s basketball team from 2004-09 and was a major contributor on three NAIA National Championship teams. 

Jacobs was a two-time All-American, all-national tournament, and all-conference. She holds the program record with 383 career made 3-pointers and is third with 117 made 3’s in a season. Jacobs is second in program history games played (148), has two of the top six 3-pointer percentage games in school history, and second in 3-point field goal attempts in a career (987). 

As a senior, she suffered an injury in a practice leading up to the 2009 NAIA National Tournament. Electing to put off the surgery, she played in four national tournament games, scoring 11 points in the quarterfinals. In her last career game, she played in and help lead Union to the 2009 NAIA National Title. 

Following her playing career at Union, Jacobs was named the first girl’s basketball head coach for the then new South Gibson High School. After three years, she returned to her alma mater, Bradford High School and coached for 12 seasons. In 2023, Jacobs retired as coach and is now working for the Bradford School District as the Career and Technical education Director. 

Jacobs initially signed with Belmont University out of high school, but then transferred to Union in 2004. She was a two-time TSSAA Miss Basketball winner. She completed her graduate degrees from Union (Masters) and Arkansas State (Ed.S.).

Jacobs and her husband, Shane, live in Bradford along with their four children Dean, Makaren, Nolan, and Teagan.