MJ Knighten

A fast-rising coach with an All-American pedigree and program-building leadership abilities, MJ Knighten is entering her second season as the head coach of San Diego Softball.

The sixth head coach in program history, Knighten is the first Black female head coach of any program at USD Athletics and the youngest active softball head coach in NCAA Division I. She was an assistant coach for the Toreros in 2019-20.

During her first season at the helm, the Toreros generated one of their strongest seasons in the circle as the pitching staff recorded the lowest team ERA since 2014 (2.95). The pitchers garnered multiple conference honors with two earning All-WCC second team honors and two WCC Pitcher of the Week Awards.

In addition to stops at her alma mater with the Huskers and Wichita State, Knighten’s rapid ascension in the coaching ranks comes after a successful year as an assistant with the Toreros in 2019-20, where she helped develop San Diego into an offensive power.

Knighten has a wealth of elite softball experience as a former All-American at Nebraska and player with the National Pro Fastpitch league. At Nebraska, Knighten rewrote the record books, ending her four-year career ranked in the top-10 in 10 different categories. She started 228 of 229 games at third base during her tenure, was named an NFCA All-American in 2016, and became the first four-time All-Big Ten selection in program history. Knighten helped guide the Huskers to three postseason appearances and a first place finish in the Big Ten in 2014.

After her stellar career at Nebraska, Knighten was selected 25th overall in the 2017 NPF Draft as a third baseman by the Scrap Yard Dawgs, who went on to win the NPF Championship later that summer.

Knighten played two seasons in the NPF and was an undergraduate assistant coach at Nebraska during the 2018 season before joining Wichita State as a graduate assistant for the 2019 campaign. Under head coach Kristi Bredbenner, she helped guide the Shockers to a 12-9 American Athletic Conference (AAC) record and a 2019 AAC Tournament semifinal appearance.

Knighten earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in broadcasting from Nebraska in 2017. She recently completed her Master’s of Education in Sports Management from Wichita State in May 2020.