Villanova University head women’s basketball coach Denise Dillon today announced her 2020-21 coaching staff. Dillon was named the fifth head coach in program history on March 25, 2020.
Longtime Wildcat assistant Joe Mullaney will remain on staff and return for his 25th season as the program’s Associate Head Coach, while Director of Basketball Operations Mimi Riley will also return.
Two newcomers to the Villanova staff will be Michelle Baker and Mary Wooley.
In her role, Baker will assist with on-court coaching duties, handle film breakdown of Wildcat players and Villanova opponents and she will serve as one of the program’s on road recruiters. Wooley will oversee the Wildcats national recruiting efforts, in addition to assisting with on court coaching duties.
Baker began her Drexel career as the team’s Graduate Assistant from 2012-2014. In this position, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations within the basketball team, including travel and meal plan coordination, practice organization and office management. For the past six seasons, Baker was a full-time assistant on the Drexel coaching staff where she helped the Dragons to five 20-win seasons, five WNIT berths, three CAA tournament championship games and CAA regular season championships in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
She spent her collegiate career at Saint Joseph’s University where she was four-year standout finishing as the program’s all-time leader for games played with 127. Baker, who ranks 14th on the Hawks all-time scoring list with 1,184 points, earned second team All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior in 2012 when she averaged a team-high 13.0 points per game. She also garnered a spot on the 2012 Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team and the 2012 All-Philadelphia Big 5 First Team.
Baker earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Interdisciplinary Health Science from Saint Joseph’s in 2012 and a Master’s Degree in Sports Management from Drexel in 2014.
Wooley arrives on the Main Line after spending the previous three years at the University of South Carolina as the program’s Director of Recruiting Operations/Administration. During her time in Columbia, Wooley helped the Gamecocks to two SEC tournament championships, one SEC regular season crown, two Sweet 16 appearances in 2018 and 2019 and a trip to the Elite Eight in 2018. She was also instrumental in South Carolina signing the number one recruiting class in the country in 2019. In her three years at South Carolina, the Gamecocks tallied an 84-18 record (.824), including a 32-1 mark during the 2019-20 season. This rates as the best winning percentage in program history.
Prior to her stint at South Carolina, Wooley spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant at Loyola University (Md.), following four seasons at the University of Hawaii where she was the Associate Head Coach for three years. During her time in the Rainbow State, she helped Hawaii earn four consecutive postseason berths, including a trip to the 2016 NCAA Tournament after winning the Big West Conference Tournament championship. Her first full-time coaching position came at Southern Cal where she was from 2009-12. During her tenure at USC, the Trojans tallied a 61-37 overall record.
Her career in college athletics began at Temple University from 2003-09 when she served a graduate externship with the women’s basketball program, before taking over as Director of Operations.
Wooley was a four-year letterwinner at South Carolina Aiken where she led her team to its first-ever Peach Belt Conference championship and a berth in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Experimental Science in 2002. Wooley also owns a Master’s of Education in Counseling Psychology from Temple.
https://villanova.com/news/2020/4/24/villanova-womens-basketball-announces-staff-update.aspx
