St. Mary’s College of Maryland Director of Athletics and Recreation Scott Devine announced Wednesday afternoon the appointment of C.K. Calhoun as the next head women’s basketball coach at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
“It is my pleasure to announce C.K. Calhoun as our next head women’s basketball coach. In addition to doing a tremendous job throughout the interview process, Coach Calhoun really checked all of our critical boxes we identified going into the search, stated Devine. “She played for a national level women’s basketball program at Marymount under Coach Bill Finney. In addition, she has the assistant and head coaching resume in the CAC and in the mid-Atlantic region that we were looking for. C.K. will bring a wealth of basketball knowledge to our program.”
Calhoun, who will be 14th head coach in school history since the program’s inception in 1981, will begin immediately. The Alexandria, Va., native replaces Crystal Gibson who accepted the associate director of athletics position at Susquehanna University in mid-July. She brings 11 years of collegiate coaching, including three years at Division I, while being well-versed in the ways of the Capital Athletic Conference.
Calhoun stated, “I want to thank Scott Devine and the entire search committee for giving me this opportunity to join the Seahawk family. St. Mary’s has it all – it is a school for students that want to be challenged academically and athletically. It met everything I was looking for in a coaching opportunity.”
“It means even more to me that I get to take over a program from one of my closest friends. Crystal is going to be a great resource for me in helping me learn about the team, the league and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.”
Calhoun comes to St. Mary’s from Division I Lafayette College as she spent three seasons there in various coaching positions. She started as the assistant coach and was then promoted to associate head coach in July 2016.
Prior to Lafayette, Calhoun spent two seasons as the head coach at Shenandoah University, leading the Hornets to the second round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament twice. She has also held assistant coaching positions at Randolph-Macon College (2010-2012) and Marymount (Va.) University (2008-2010).
Her knowledge of the CAC comes from her days at Marymount as a player and coach. As a player, Calhoun was part of two CAC championship teams and a pair of trips to the NCAC Division III Championship Tournament. During her coaching tenure, the Saints gained one more CAC championship title and made appearances in the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Tournaments.
Devine continued, “C.K. also has great familiarity with our school and athletic department from her years as a player and coach in the CAC. It was clear to all of us involved in the search that Coach Calhoun will be a fantastic fit with our staff, our student-athletes, and all of our campus colleagues. I anticipate a smooth transition as C.K takes over the reins of our women’s basketball program, and I know our players are looking forward to practice starting on October 15th.”
Calhoun holds a B.A. in graphic design from Marymount (2006) and an M.B.A. in strategic marketing and competitive advantage from Frostburg State University (2010). While pursuing her M.B.A. at Frostburg State, she served as a graduate assistant coach for the Bobcat women’s basketball program.
She inherits a program which made the CAC Tournament five of the last six seasons while returning All-CAC performer senior guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James) and the conference’s third-leading rebounder, junior forward Kobe Chaney (Edgewater, Md./South river).
“I am very excited to be returning to my roots in Division III and especially in the Capital Athletic Conference. It means so much to be a head coach in the league in which I played college basketball,” added Calhoun.
“We are going to work very hard on the defensive end of the floor. I have learned so much from some great coaching mentors throughout my playing and coaching career and one common thread with all of them is that you have to be fundamentally sound defensively in order to be successful. We are going to work on this every day.”
The Seahawks begin practice October 15 and open up the season at home on November 15 against The Catholic University of America at 8:00 p.m.
“Lastly, I would like to thank Assistant Athletic Director Jim Cranmer for doing a great job serving as chair of the women’s basketball search committee, as well as the entire search committee and our women’s basketball players. We were fortunate to have had a deep and talented applicant pool which ultimately led us to Coach Calhoun. We welcome C.K and her husband, Scott, to the Seahawk family,” concluded Devine.
http://www.smcmathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2017-18/releases/20170906n6v3dv?platform=hootsuite
Tagged with: CAC DIII
