Vassar College has selected Anthony Mason as its next Head Women’s Basketball Coach, as announced by Director of Athletics and Physical Education Michelle Walsh on Thursday. A former Division I assistant at Pepperdine University, he takes the helm of the Brewers from Lucia Robinson-Griggs, who departed for MIT in May 2021.
“It is an honor and I feel blessed to join the Athletic Department here at Vassar College. My wife and I are excited to be a part of the larger Vassar Community,” said Mason. “I want to thank Michelle Walsh and the entire search committee for selecting me to be the next women’s head basketball coach. There is a long tradition of excellence in the classroom and in sports at Vassar, and I plan to continue in that tradition of excellence. It is not something that I take lightly and I am excited to join with the young women of the Vassar women’s basketball as we continue on the upward trajectory that they have already put the program on.”
Mason comes to Vassar following a two-year stint as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Pepperdine. In his tenure with the Waves, he served as the defensive coordinator and the post coach. Overall, Mason was a part of a staff that helped recruit four McDonald’s All-American nominees, three state champions and a John Wooden Award recipient to Pepperdine.
During his time, the Waves posted a 21-33 overall mark, which included a pair of victories in the West Coast Conference Tournament in 2019-20. That effort saw a win over St. Mary’s in the second round, followed by the program’s first-ever post season win against BYU to advance to the semifinals. In addition to his service as an assistant coach, Mason was also a member of the Athletics’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.
“I’m thrilled to announce that Anthony is joining the Vassar family,” stated Walsh. “Anthony has a wealth of coaching experiences at the DI, DIII, and high school levels that have uniquely prepared him to be the next Head Coach for Vassar Women’s Basketball. He shares our commitment to supporting student-athlete development and well-being both on and off the court and I am excited to see what the future holds for the team under his leadership.”
Prior to Pepperdine, Mason served as assistant coach at Claremont Mudd-Scripps (CMS) on two separate occasions. During his stints with the Athenas, which came in 2013-15 and 2018-19, he helped the squad to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. CMS were the regular season and SCIAC Tournament Champions in 2014 and 2015, while also setting the school record each year for victories with 24.
In between stints at Claremont, Mason served as the head coach of the boys’ varsity basketball team at Upland High School for four years. He was also a guidance counselor for the school. His squad posted the second best finish in school history during the 2018 season, which included a 2AA semi-finals appearance and a State Playoff game.
Mason saw his squad record victories against Top-50 teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, while also guiding the program to the playoffs during three out of the four years. Mason previously served as the associate head coach for at Upland from 2005 till 2013. Serving as the defensive coordinator, he helped guide the team to seven 20-win seasons, the 2007 Baseline League Championship title and three southern section Division 1AA Quarterfinal appearances.
Mason earned his Bachelor’s degree from California State University Long Beach in 2008 and went onto complete his Master of Arts in Education focused on Educational and Clinical Counseling from Azusa Pacific in 2013.
Photo Courtesy Vassar Athletics
https://www.vassarathletics.com/news/2021/7/1/anthony-mason-named-head-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
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