The NIU Huskies newly named Head Coach Lisa Carlsen announced her staff Wednesday morning, hiring three new assistant coaches ahead of the 2015-16 season, including former Huskie Stephanie Smith who has served in a support staff role since 2011.
“The three coaches all have different dynamics and different strengths, even if they don’t have a ton of experience, I think the pieces that they bring to the table will be vital to our success,” said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen. “I think it’s important to look at things from a diversity stand point and make sure that we’re putting people in place that have a true passion for the game of basketball and want to give back to the game because that’s the kind of work ethic it’s going to take to be successful.”
Smith, a player for the NIU Huskies from 1999-2004, was promoted to assistant coach after serving as the women’s basketball program’s graduate assistant from 2011-13 and as the Director of Basketball Operations from 2013-15.
Prior to returning to her alma mater, Smith coached high school basketball in Illinois for six seasons, serving as an assistant coach at both Marian Catholic and South Elgin before spending two seasons as the head girls coach at Burlington Central from 2009-11. Smith also coached AAU basketball in Illinois, coaching the Illinois Wolverines and Team USA in Elgin.
“Having Steph here in the transition has been huge help with her understanding of NIU, but more than that, Steph provides a passion for the university as an alum that you just can’t replicate and that’s what drew me the most to her when I thought of elevating her to the staff” said Carlsen. “Her organization skills and her ability to help us in the transition was great but she can sell NIU because she’s lived NIU as player and as a staff member. I think that will shine through as a recruiter in the future.”
New to the NIU women’s basketball staff are Kierra McCleary and John McGinty, who both coached at Lewis with Carlsen to help guide the Flyers to the NCAA Tournament in their time in Romeoville.
McCleary comes to Northern Illinois University after spending the last two seasons at Western Illinois, where she served as the recruiting coordinator for the Leathernecks. In her first season at WIU, the Leathernecks set a new record for points in a season with 2,392 and field goals in a season with 846.
Led by three All-Summit League selections, one All-Newcomer team selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-American (Ashley Luke), Western Illinois would go on to finish the 2013-14 season with a 14-16 record. WIU foes from the Horizon League, Conference USA, the Ohio Valley, the Atlantic-10 and WAC while finishing fifth in the Summit League, the Leathernecks best league finish since 2007-08.
The team would surpass that standard in 2014-15, finishing 17-13 overall and 9-7 in the Summit League to finish third in the regular season standings. Luke would finish the season as the Summit League’s Player of the Year, as well CoSIDA’s Academic All-American of the Year.
Prior to her two seasons at Western Illinois, McCleary worked one season at Lewis with Carlsen, helping the Flyers to the best turnaround in Division II during the 2012-13 season. Lewis finished the year 24-6, earning an NCAA Tournament berth, after finishing the 2011-12 season with an 8-20 mark.
A three-time captain at North Alabama, McCleary helped the Lions to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2010-11, the program’s first appearance since 1994. In her final season, North Alabama finished 21-7 and was a perfect 12-0 in the Gulf South Conference. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native graduated from UNA in 2011 with a degree in business administration.
“Kierra worked for me three years ago and is a promising, up and coming coach,” said Carlsen. She did a great job at Western Illinois and gained more and more responsibility there. She adds a dynamic aspect for us, especially as a recruiter and her familiarity of this position especially at the Division I level will be key.”
Making the move directly from Lewis, McGinty will enter his second season as assistant coach under Carlsen after debuting alongside the bench in 2014-15. Last year with the Flyers, Lewis opened the season 23-0 to earn the No. 1 ranking for five-consecutive weeks in the Division II polls. The Flyers also defeated three Division I opponents in that time.
The program would finish the season 31-3 overall and 17-1, a new Great Lakes Valley Conference record, en route to the program’s first ever berth to the Elite Eight in 2014-15. McGinty began working with Lewis women’s basketball program in 2012-13 as a practice player while working towards his Master’s degree.
Prior to his season on the bench at Lewis, McGinty coached at St. Laurence High School, where he was an assistant coach with the boy’s varsity team, as well as the head coach of the boy’s freshmen team in 2012-13 and the head coach of the junior varsity team in 2013-14. McGinty also has AAU coaching experience, spending a season with Full Package Athletics in 2013 and The Athlete Within (TAW) in 2014.
In addition to his coaching duties at Lewis, the Chicago native served as the Compliance Assistant for three years. McGinty graduated from Iowa in 2012 with a degree in sports studies and worked towards his master’s at Lewis in organizational leadership.
“John brings an element of trust because we worked together last year and he showed a great understanding of the X’s and O’s of the game. He demonstrated that during the postseason last year and really helped us make some great adjustments and strategical moves. He has a great love for the game and his familiarity with what I expect and what we’re trying to do here make him a great asset to the staff,” said Carlsen.
Returning to the staff as well is graduate assistant Kelly Frings, who began with the program in the fall of 2014 after graduating from Bradley. The Milwaukee, Wis., native played four seasons with the Braves, making 111 career appearances. Frings will continue her work as the video coordinator with the Huskies.
“Kelly has been a tremendous help in our transition as a staff. Her familiarity with the team and with the university and her ability to work with others has been an important piece of the staff the last couple of weeks,” Carlsen added. “She has built a great working chemistry with the new staff and her organizational abilities will be vital as we move forward this season.”
http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/072215aaa.html
Tagged with: Assistant DI Staff
