App State women’s basketball head coach Angel Elderkin is excited to complete her coaching staff for the 2021-22 season. Sam Pierce has been promoted to associate head coach, Jeanne Kenney has been hired as assistant coach, and Kate Dempsey is moving to the role as assistant athletics director for women’s basketball.
Earlier this month, Elderkin brought in Mark Cascio as one of two new assistant coaches.
“Anytime your staff goes through changes, you have an opportunity for growth,” coach Elderkin stated. “I am so grateful to have our coaching staff assembled and for the people who have chosen to be by my side at App State. Sam Pierce and Kate Dempsey have poured so much into this program, and I am excited about their continued commitment to our players and program. Mark Cascio, who was added earlier this month, has already hit the ground running with our program and we feel his immediate impact. Today we announce the final piece in Jeanne Kenney. Jeanne, is the perfect piece to complete my staff puzzle. I have no doubt our players and recruits are going to flock to Jeanne. Her energy and passion for the game and helping others attain their goals are unparalleled.”
Jeanne(French origin – pronounced like genre without the ‘re’) Kenney arrives in the High Country after spending a season with Utah State.
Before the Aggies, she was the head coach of her high school alma mater, St. Michael the past four seasons from 2017-20, where she earned District 6-4A Coach of the Year honors in both 2017 and 2018. Kenney led St. Michael HS to its first-ever 20-win season in her final year.
Prior to earning the head coaching role, Kenney was an assistant coach at St. Michael in the 2015-16 season. Kenney started her coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at UCLA in the 2014-15 season, where the Bruins finished with a 19-18 overall record.
Kenney, who graduated from LSU with a degree in Kinesiology in 2014, was a point guard for the Tigers for four seasons as she played in 129 career games with 85 starts. She finished 10th all-time in assists at LSU with 372 and made 137 career 3-pointers to rank seventh in program history.
Elderkin and Kenney are no strangers to each other as she coached Kenney at LSU.
Both Pierce and Dempsey have been a part of a WBI title in 2018-19 and a pair of winning seasons in the last three years, including a 15-12 mark this past campaign and a trip to the Sun Belt Tournament Semifinals.
Pierce has been with the Mountaineers since the 2017-18 season, where he’s developed three, 1000-point scorers in Madi Story, Pre Stanley, and Lainey Gosnell, who are all in the top 15 in the program’s history in scoring.
The trio of Story, Stanley, and Gosnell was named All-Sun Belt in their respective careers, while Stanley and Gosnell were the third-highest scoring duo in the league in 2020-21. Stanley appeared in two games with the Washington Mystics during the preseason, becoming the first student-athlete in program history to receive a WNBA Training Camp invite.
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Angel and the App State administration,” Pierce said. “From day one of working with her, she allowed me to have a voice within our program, and to make a difference daily. I love what I do, working with coach Elderkin and our student-athletes. The App family has been a blessing. We have an environment that promotes family, competition, growth, and most importantly, impact in the classroom, community, and on the court. I look forward to the continued success and growth of our program. Go App!”
Dempsey transitions to her new role after spending six years as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Black and Gold. She coached three former Mountaineers who finished in the top six all-time in blocks in Bayley Plummer, Ashley Bassett-Smith, and Keke Cooper.
Plummer also went down in the record books second all-time with 1,277 rebounds. As the recruiting coordinator, she’s contributed to recruiting classes that helped the Mountaineers go above .500 in two of the last three years and make two trips to the Sun Belt Semifinals.
“For the last six years, it has been an incredible experience working in multiple capacities for this program and Coach Angel,” Dempsey said. “I am excited about transitioning to the new role as assistant athletics director for women’s basketball, which will provide me the chance to continue my education while still being able to provide support to coach Elderkin and The TEAM. I am very thankful for the opportunity to remain a part of this program while continuing to grow personally and professionally.”
https://appstatesports.com/news/2021/5/28/womens-basketball-announces-staff-updates.aspx
