Niagara women’s basketball head coach Jada Pierce has announced the hiring of Kayla DeCriscio as an assistant coach.
DeCriscio, who served as the Purple Eagles’ director of basketball operations during the 2018-19 season, joins Niagara after serving as an assistant coach at Detroit Mercy for the 2019-20 season. She specialized in the development of the point guards and guards and was the director of the team’s summer camps. She also managed the team’s travel budget and worked closely with graduate assistants and director of basketball operations on video coordinating responsibilities.
“We are blessed and beyond excited to have Kayla back with us,” said Pierce. “Kayla’s experience at Detroit Mercy last year as an assistant coach, combined with her familiarity of our program, makes this a win for everyone. Our student-athletes will benefit immensely from Kayla and know that she will put them first. During Kayla’s time here, she built great relationships within the athletic department and across campus that will be beneficial for a seamless transition.”
In her first stint with the Purple Eagles, DeCriscio arranged all team travel, supervised student managers and work-study students and served at the team’s video coordinator. She was also the director of summer camps and managed the team’s social media accounts and community service activities.
Prior to her time at Niagara, DeCriscio served as the graduate assistant/director of basketball operations at Detroit Mercy from 2016-18. Her responsibilities included coordinating travel plans and itineraries for trips, assisting with official and unofficial recruiting visits, assisting with the preparation of scouting reports, tracking specific statistics during games, supervising team managers and helping to run the team’s social media pages. DeCriscio also served as the assistant director for all women’s basketball summer camps and was the academic liaison for student-athletes and monitored study halls.
“I am ecstatic to be back working for Niagara University and to be working alongside Coach Pierce and her staff,” said DeCriscio. “I am so grateful for this opportunity and can’t thank Coach Pierce enough. I am really looking forward to molding and impacting our young ladies’ lives on and off the court.”
DeCriscio played basketball at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, an NCAA Division II institution, and she ranks in the top 20 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in career 3-point field goal percentage (39%). She graduated in 2016 with bachelor’s degrees in secondary education and applied mathematics. She earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Detroit Mercy in April 2018.
https://purpleeagles.com/news/2020/10/6/decriscio-named-womens-basketball-assistant-coach.aspx
