University at Albany Director of Athletics Mark Benson announced Friday the hiring of Joanna Bernabei-McNamee as the 11th head women’s basketball coach in program history and fourth head coach in the Great Danes’ Division I era.
Bernabei-McNamee (, a native of Weirton, W.Va., comes to UAlbany after three seasons as the head coach of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Ky. There, McNamee racked up 63 wins and led the program to back-to-back National Tournament berths, including a program-record 26 victories and an NAIA Final Four appearance in 2016. McNamee was named the 2016 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NAIA Regional Coach of the Year, and was also named the 2015 Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year.
“On behalf of the University at Albany, I extend a warm welcome to Joanna. Her track record of success at every level of the game – as a head coach, assistant coach, and player – makes her an ideal fit for our women’s basketball program,” said Robert J. Jones, President, University at Albany. “She is respected by her peers and is committed to building strong relationships both with our campus community and the community-at-large. We look forward to working with Joanna to bring our women’s team to the next level of excellence.”
“We are extremely excited to have Coach Mac as our new women’s basketball coach,” said Benson. “She personifies the principles and values that are at the core of Great Dane athletics. Continuing the success of our women’s basketball program, on and off the court, was paramount in our search.”
“Joanna has won at every level, including a National Championship while the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Maryland,” added Benson. “She instituted her “Hoops and Heels” program for the professional development of female student-athletes, which aligns with current mentoring activities in our department. We are confident that Coach Mac can take our successful women’s basketball program to the next level.”
“Being a part of the UAlbany program is a great opportunity for me and my family,” said Coach McNamee. “This program and the success it has already accomplished is a great fit for me — the up-tempo brand of basketball fits my coaching style, and I’m excited to build upon the program’s success.”
Prior to Pikeville, McNamee coached at the NCAA Division I level for 10 years. She served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Maryland for four seasons from 2003 to 2007, and helped pilot the Terrapins to the 2006 National Championship. Maryland beat Duke 78-75 in overtime for the title and finished with a record of 34-4. During her tenure, she brought in four straight nationally ranked recruiting classes, including three in the top 10.
“Every job prepares you for your next job, and I’ve been fortunate to have really positive experiences throughout my coaching career,” said Coach Mac. “With my last stop at the Division I level being at the University of Maryland where we won a national championship, I couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Brenda Frese. Along with our staff there, including Jeff Walz who’s now at the University of Louisville, we really grew up together as a staff and learned a lot.”
McNamee spent two years at West Virginia University as an assistant coach where she was a scout, position coach and recruiting coordinator. Before her time as a Mountaineer, McNamee had a two-year stint at Eastern Kentucky where she was responsible for scouting, individual player development, as well as serving as the recruiting coordinator.
Coach Mac gained head coaching experience in 1998 at West Virginia Wesleyan where she compiled an 18-9 record and a third-place finish in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), while also acting as the school’s Senior Women’s Administrator.
McNamee attended West Liberty State where she was a Division II All-American and a four-time first-team All-WVIAC selection as a point guard. Named the 1997 WVIAC Player of the Year, she still holds the NCAA Division II career assists record of 1,107 and the record for assists in a game with 24. She is one of only four players in NCAA history to record over 1,000 points and 1,000 assists, finishing her stellar career with 1,317 total points.
McNamee also holds NCAA records for average assists per game (9.5), and the school and conference marks for assists in a game, season (294) and career. She led her team to an 80-36 record over four years and is listed on West Liberty’s Top 20 All-Time Best Athletes list. She was the first woman to be named first-team All-West Virginia Athletic Conference for four years and was inducted into the West Liberty State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2011.
McNamee earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology in 1997 from West Liberty and a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky in sports administration in 1999.
Joanna and her husband Joe McNamee have two sons, Luke (9) and Caden (8). McNamee took a nearly four-year hiatus from coaching (2009-13) to focus on raising her children.
Coach Mac takes over a UAlbany program that has won a combined nine America East Conference tournament and regular season titles in the last five seasons, and has made five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In the 2015-16 season, UAlbany defeated No. 5 Florida for the program’s first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament victory.
“I’m looking forward to taking what I have learned to this level and it’s nice that the program here already has an established mindset and culture that I will continue to grow,” said McNamee. “Coach Abe is such a great person and a great coach, and I look forward to following in her footsteps and doing a spectacular job here with the Great Danes.”
UAlbany will formally introduce Coach McNamee at a press conference on Friday, April 22 at 11 a.m.
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Photo Courtesy Albany Athletics
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