IUP head women’s basketball coach Tom McConnell announced the addition of Chelsea Danel as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season.
Danel joins the IUP staff after three seasons as an assistant at Hood College, a member of the Division III Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC).
“She’s an outstanding, young coach,” said McConnell. “Versatility is the word that comes to mind when I think of her. She’s really going to impact our program in a lot of ways.”
At Hood, Danel was an academic success coach in Hood’s Center for Academic Achievement and Retention in addition to her work as an assistant coach for women’s basketball.
“On the floor, she’s an outstanding coach,” continued McConnell. “She’s going to be a very good recruiter for us – she’s a local product from Northstar High School and then starred at Messiah College, so she’ll be able to attract players from Western and Central Pennsylvania.
“She’s a leader, a mentor and a young woman of integrity and she’s going to be an outstanding role model for our players.”
“I am really grateful for this opportunity Coach McConnell has given me to be on staff,” said Danel. “He is very intentional about his vision for the program and development of the players, and for that I am thankful. I am excited to get started and look forward to developing relationships with the players, coaching staff, and the community at IUP.”
Danel also served as the head coach of the women’s golf program at Hood from November 2016 to January 2019.
Prior to Hood, Danel coached the women’s club basketball team at West Virginia University while also serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the varsity women’s volleyball team.
Danel played collegiately at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. A three-year starter, she helped the Falcons to four straight NCAA tournament appearances including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2012-13. As a senior team captain in 2013-14 she earned second team all-league accolades and was named the MVP of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
Danel graduated from Messiah in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. She earned her master’s in athletic coaching education from West Virginia in 2016.
Danel joins McConnell and fellow assistant coach Jocelyn Floyd on the IUP bench. Floyd was recently elevated to the full-time assistant coach after the departure of Kelly Mazzante to Bucknell. Floyd enters her fifth year with the Crimson Hawks and has been an integral part of a coaching staff that has led the most successful stretch in program history.
https://iupathletics.com/news/2019/8/19/chelsea-danel-named-iup-womens-basketball-assistant-coach.aspx
