The Yale University women’s basketball program and Chris Gobrecht, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954, Head Coach of Women’s Basketball, has announced the hiring of Brandon Gade as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2014-15 season, completing the team’s coaching staff.
Gade, who will be in charge of wing-player development for the Bulldogs, will join Clare Fitzpatrick and Stacy McIntyre as assistants under Gobrecht.
"We are excited to be able to add Brandon to our coaching staff. He has a reputation for being an excellent teacher of the game and he has shown tremendous commitment to the sport of women’s basketball," said Gobrecht. "This is a coaching staff that I am really excited about and we can’t wait to get started!"
"I’m from Connecticut and the opportunity to work with student-athletes that really believe in strong academics was a big draw for me," said Gade about coming to Yale.
A native of close-by Wallingford, Conn., Gade brings five years of coaching experience with him to Yale, including three years at the college level. Most recently, he spent two seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s basketball team at Albertus Magnus.
"I was ready to keep learning," said the 26-year-old Gade about changing schools in New Haven. "At Yale, you’re on the road recruiting all year-long and you’re working with a higher-level of basketball player."
Prior to his two-year stay at Albertus, Gade served one year as an assistant for the women’s team at Queens University of Charlotte, a Division II school in North Carolina.
Gade made the move to Charlotte in 2011, the same year that he graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
While at UConn, Gade was very active in the sporting community, both on and off campus. During his junior and senior years, he was head coach of the junior varsity girls’ basketball team at E.O. Smith High School, located right next to campus. Gade was also a varsity assistant coach at the school.
In his sophomore year in Storrs, Gade was a player on the practice squad that would scrimmage against the UConn women’s basketball team to help prepare them for games. From his sophomore year until he graduated, he also was a student worker for UConn’s Athletic Facilities Operations staff.
Gade has four family members in the area: father, David, mother, Marcia, brother, Matt, and sister, Alyssa. Matt is 28 years old and Alyssa is 23.
Yale’s newest addition to the coaching staff will join the Bulldogs after a 2013-14 campaign where the team went 13-15 (7-7 Ivy), finishing fourth in the Ivy League.
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