Gardner-Webb head coach Rick Reeves announced that Cetera DeGraffenreid has been hired as an assistant women’s basketball coach.
“I want to first thank Coach Reeves, Mr. Burch and Mrs. Scruggs for this incredible opportunity. I’m extremely excited to join the Gardner-Webb Women’s Basketball staff and to have a chance to work with these student-athletes,” remarked Cetera DeGraffenreid. “Coach Reeves has built a strong program and I look forward to joining the Runnin’ Bulldog family.”
DeGraffenreid replaces Dominique Hudson, who recently accepted a position to become an assistant women’s basketball coach at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
“I am thrilled to have Cetera joined the women’s basketball coaching staff here at Gardner-Webb,” said Rick Reeves. “Cetera is an excellent addition to the staff and will be a great role model and teacher for the players”.
DeGraffenreid arrives in Boiling Springs after spending this past year working on her Masters Degree at Western Carolina. At WCU, DeGraffenreid worked as a strength and conditioning intern for the men’s and women’s basketball team and taught two strength and conditioning classes at Cherokee High School. In May 2015, she completed her Masters Degree, obtaining a perfect 4.0 GPA in the program.
The native of Cullowhee, N.C. played collegiately at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill under legendary head coach and women’s basketball Hall of Fame inductee Sylvia Hatchell.
“Cetera was a great player for me during her four years at North Carolina. She’s a great person and this will be a great opportunity for her,” said North Carolina women’s basketball head coach Sylvia Hatchell. “Cetera will be a great role model and asset to the University and the players. I’m so pleased that she’s starting her coaching career under a great person and coach like Rick Reeves. The future is bright for Gardner-Webb and Cetera. ”
At UNC, DeGraffenreid was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and helped guide the Tar Heels to four NCAA tournament appearances, including the Elite Eight during her freshman season, and the Sweet 16, her senior year. In her four seasons at Chapel Hill, DeGraffenreid became just the fifth player in ACC history to hit 500 free throws and graduated as the school’s all-time leader in career free throws made with 544.
In her freshman season, the freshman guard appeared in all 36 games, making 30 starts, and was named an unanimous ACC All-freshman selection after averaging 11.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and dished out 3.1 assists per game. She was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week three times during her first season as a Tar Heel and was selected as a Gballmag.com Young All-American.
As a sophomore, DeGraffenreid started career-high 31 games and ranked in the top-10 in the conference in four statistical categories including leading the league in assist to turnover ratio at 1.7. She was named to the conference’s third team and was one of 13 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the nation’s top point guard.
On Dec 29, 2012 during her junior year, DeGraffenreid scored her 1,000th point in an 89-44 victory over Kennesaw State.
After finishing her collegiate career, DeGraffenreid went on to play professionally in Israel for two seasons, for Ironi Ramat Gan and Habikaa.
DeGraffenreid graduated from UNC in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications, amassing 1,562 career points and currently ranks third in Tar Heel history for both assists (589) and steals (371) and also ranks in the top-10 for free-throw percentage (10th-75.6%).
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