Stephanie Glance, a veteran collegiate women’s basketball coach and the former head coach at Illinois State University, has been named Columbia University’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, Director, Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education at Columbia University announced today.
Glance has more than 25 years of collegiate coaching experience in NCAA Division I. Most recently she led the Illinois State Redbirds to three consecutive seasons with 19+ wins, two 24-win seasons, three WNIT appearances and a 67-35 record overall. Prior to her tenure at Illinois State, Glance served one year as the recruiting coordinator and special assistant to head coach Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee. Glance previously had served as the assistant coach, associate head coach and interim head coach at North Carolina State University for 15 years.
“Stephanie Glance is an outstanding women’s basketball coach,” Dr. Murphy said. “She brings tremendous experience with a number of impressive mentors, including Hall of Fame coaches Pat Summitt and the late Kay Yow. Stephanie has a demonstrated record of success as an assistant coach, associate head coach and head coach of a NCAA Division I women’s basketball program. We know she is the right coach for Columbia.”
“As soon as I stepped on campus, I realized how special Columbia University is. Coaching at an elite institution in the greatest city in the world is an amazing opportunity. What excited me the most about this position was that everyone I spoke with had a visible enthusiasm and commitment to the athletics program and for women’s basketball program in particular,” Glance said. “With Dianne’s [Murphy] leadership and the support that is in place here, I know that we can give Columbia University an extremely competitive women’s basketball program.”
“I must thank Dianne Murphy and President Lee C. Bollinger for this fantastic opportunity,” Glance concluded.
Glance started her coaching career as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at South Florida from 1988-93 and served as an assistant coach at Southwest Texas State during the 1993-94 season.
For the next 15 years Glance served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at North Carolina State University. She helped guide the Wolfpack to record of 285-178 and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 four times and the 1998 Final Four.
While at N.C. State, Glance developed a very close working relationship with head coach Kay Yow, and served as the interim head coach during parts of the 2004-05, 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons, while the coach battled breast cancer. Glance oversaw all aspects of the Wolfpack program, including player development, gameplan and practice planning, academic development, scheduling, community service and fundraising.
During her time at North Carolina State, Glance was instrumental in the development of 27 All-ACC selections, the 1995 and 1997 ACC Rookies of the Year and the 1999 ACC Player of the Year. Ten players Glance coached at N.C. State went on to play professionally, including eight that were drafted in either the WNBA or ABL.
As recruiting coordinator, Glance was responsible for all aspects of the N.C. State recruiting efforts. She put together 14 recruiting classes that ranked in the top-30 in the nation, including four in the top-10. She recruited three junior college All-Americans and one JUCO National Player of the Year.
Glance worked with Pat Summitt at Tennessee in 2009-10. She was hired as an assistant to the head coach and was appointed to assistant coach in December. She also served as the Lady Vols’ recruiting coordinator. Tennessee went 32-3 that season, won the SEC regular-season and tournament championships and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
Since she has become a head coach, Glance has been honored twice by various organizations for her excellent work. In 2010-11, she was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (WBCA) Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year after leading the Illinois State Redbirds to a 24-win season. The next season, after a second-place conference finish in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), Glance was named the MVC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.
