Webster University head women’s basketball coach Jordan Olufson announced on Friday that he has hired Cydni Cole as his program’s new assistant coach for the 2019-20 school year.
Cole, who officially begins working at Webster on Monday, played collegiately at both George Mason University and Appalachian State University and also played basketball in England last year while obtaining her master’s degree from Leeds Beckett University.
“I want to thank Coach (Jordan) Olufson for providing me the opportunity to be a part of the Webster community,” said Cole about joining the Gorloks. “I’m excited to be here and get started on this journey with our team and the Gorlok family.”
Cole replaces former longtime Gorlok assistant Kaliann Rickard-Henke, who stepped down after the end of the 2018-19 school year to move to Milwaukee, Wis., to be near her husband, Tom Henke, who is currently the Fields Manager for Miller Park, which is the home stadium of the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers. Henke was a two-year lettermen in baseball for Webster in 2011 and 2012.
As a collegiate women’s basketball player, Cole, who is a native of Glen Burnie, Md., played one season (2014-15) at George Mason University, where she saw action in 28 games and averaged 11 minutes per game as a freshman.
After her freshman campaign at George Mason, Cole transferred to Appalachian State University, where she played just the 2016-17 season for the Mountaineers. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016-17, Cole played in just 16 games thanks to a lower-body injury that forced her to miss 14 games.
“We are very excited to have Cydni join our program. Throughout this process, she really stood out as we can’t wait for her to hit the ground running,” said Olufson, who is his entering his 12th season in 2019-20 as Webster’s head coach. “She has a basketball mind and will have the ability to reach our players in a positive way. She is going to be a great asset to our team, especially for our guard play on both ends of the court.”
Her 2016-17 Appalachian State team won the program’s first-ever Sun Belt Conference Tournament win over Coastal Carolina. Prior to 2014-15 season, Appalachian State was a member of the Southern Conference.
“Cydni seems to be everything we were looking for and a true description of a Gorlok both on and off the court. She is dedicated, passionate, a team player and wants to help the program get better,” said Olufson. “We want to be all in for our players to help develop them and her passion for defense and winning really lines up perfect for what we do here at Webster. We’re very excited to have her here.”
In high school, Cole had a successful career at Indian Creek High School as she was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and earned three letters in soccer. Was a three-time All-County selection in basketball, including earning first team honors in 2012 and was also a two-time Second-Team All-Metro selection in both 2011 and 2012. She also earned First-Team honors for three years from the Baltimore Sun and was the Most Valuable Player at the Elite Showcase Basketball Classic in 2014.
As a junior in high school, Cole averaged 22 points and six boards per game and then averaged 24.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per game as a senior. Additionally, she averaged 4.6 assists per game as a senior.
Cole earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Appalachian State in 2018 and received her Master of Science in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Leeds Beckett University in 2019.
https://websterathletics.com/news/2019/8/9/cydni-cole-named-assistant-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
