K-State women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie has made a pair of changes to his coaching staff for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Mittie has promoted Staci Gregorio to assistant coach and has added Katie Falco as the program’s Recruiting Coordinator.
Gregorio will enter her fifth season on Mittie’s staff in 2023-24. In the last two seasons, Gregorio served the program as the Coordinator of Recruiting Operations and Skill Development Coach. In her first two seasons at K-State, Gregorio was the Director of Video Operations.
“We are excited for Staci to move into this new role on our staff,” said Mittie about Gregorio. “She has excelled in her time on our staff and will make an excellent addition to our coaching staff.”
Prior to joining the Wildcats, Gregorio served as an assistant coach and video coordinator for two seasons at UC San Diego. During her time with the Tritons, she aided a program that went 58-5 and captured two California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season titles, a CCAA Tournament crown and a pair of NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
Before her time at UC San Diego, Gregorio was the head coach of The Preuss School girls’ basketball team from 2014-17. In four years, Gregorio tripled the team’s win total, coached five all-conference selections and served as a fundraising and travel coordinator. She was also a skills development coach for Hoop Blessings in San Diego, training semi-professional, Division I, II and III athletes through CoachUp.
Gregorio played professionally in Europe for two seasons, first for BC Hellenen in Munich, Germany, in 2014-15 and then C.E. Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, Spain, in 2016-17. She was the starting point guard for both teams and led C.E. Diagonal Mar in points per game, free throw percentage and assists per game.
Collegiately, Gregorio played for San Diego Mesa College where she earned All-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) First Team honors in 2014 and was team captain. She received her bachelor’s degree in politics and government from Pacific University in 2010, and earned her master’s degree in sports coaching from the University of Denver in 2017.
Falco comes to Manhattan after five seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri. Falco was at the helm of the program as it transitioned from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I. In her five seasons with the Lions, Falco compiled a 64-66 overall record and guided the program to the NCAA Division II Central Regional in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
“Katie will bring a quality perspective to our staff with her vast experience,” said Mittie on the addition of Falco. “She enjoyed great success as an assistant coach and has transitioned a program as a head coach from NCAA Division II to Division I. We are excited to welcome her and her family to Kansas State and Manhattan.”
Prior to taking the reins at Lindenwood, Falco spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at South Dakota State. She helped guide the Jackrabbits to 10 postseason appearances, four Summit League regular-season titles and a 248-87 overall record.
With South Dakota State, Falco was responsible for recruiting, scouting and coaching the team’s perimeter players. In addition to her on-court responsibilities, Falco served as the Jackrabbits’ academic coordinator. In this capacity, she helped lead the team to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll in seven of her 10 years. Additionally, the Jackrabbits finished with the nation’s top GPA during the 2010-11 season.
Prior to her time in Brookings, South Dakota, Falco worked as an assistant coach at Montana State for three seasons. With her on staff, the Bobcats went from three wins in 2005-06 to 18 wins in 2007-08 and an appearance in the Big Sky Conference Championship game.
In her playing career, Falco was a standout at Northern Iowa, ending her career fifth on the UNI career scoring charts with 1,343 points. A first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) performer in 2003, she finished second in the league with 18.2 points per game, leading the Panthers to their second WNIT appearance in three years. She also set the UNI record for career free throw percentage at 82.4 percent, making an MVC-record 53 consecutive free throws as a freshman.
Falco excelled in the classroom, earning Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2003 while completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports psychology. She pursued a master’s degree in physical education at Utah State, where she served two years as a graduate assistant for the Aggie women’s basketball team.
K-State concluded its 55th season of action with a 19-17 record and the 33rd postseason appearance in program history with its seventh bid into the WNIT. Earlier this season, the Wildcats became the 19th program in NCAA Division I history to surpass the 1,000-win mark.
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