Head coach Blanche Alverson and the San Diego women’s basketball program have announced the hiring of Samantha Guastella as the program’s newest assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Guastella comes to USD after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater Quinnipiac, and was the program’s recruiting coordinator for the 2024-25 season. A standout on the east coast coaching circuit, Guastella has experience at four previous Division I institutions and played professionally in both Australia and Luxembourg.
“I couldn’t be more excited to have Samantha Guastella join our USD women’s basketball family,” Alverson said. “She’s a proven winner who brings great energy, passion and an incredible basketball mind. Sam is a phenomenal recruiter who connects so well with people, and has such a bright future in this game. Our players are going to love her, and she’s going to make an immediate impact on our program.”
During her time at Yale, Guastella helped create an alumni mentorship program and excelled at developing student-athletes on and off the court while playing a key role in recruiting efforts and developing scouting reports for game preparation.
“I am honored and grateful to be able to join Blanche, her incredible staff and the USD community!” Guastella said. “Blanche is an outstanding leader, mentor and human being. She is truly what is right in this business! Her values and dynamic energy, combined with the academic excellence of the university, have me extremely excited to get started. This program has the tools for success, and I am so excited to be a part of the process! Go Toreros!”
Prior to her time at Yale, Guastella spent two seasons at Temple helping the Owls to a pair of American Athletic Conference tournament appearances, and spent two years at La Salle as a graduate assistant as well as one season as an assistant coach. Guastella in her first season as an assistant coach helped La Salle double their overall win total and conference win totals competing in the Atlantic-10.
A standout player during her time in college, Guastella helped lead the Bobcats to the postseason in all four of her collegiate seasons which included two trips to the NCAA Tournament and a pair of appearances in the WNIT. In her final year of eligibility, she paced the Bobcats to their best record in program history at 31-4 that included an undefeated 20-0 conference record and the team’s first ever MAAC Championship.
An outstanding shooter with defensive versatility, Guastella holds the Quinnipiac record for most career three-point makes at 225, and is the Bobcats’ Division I leader in blocks with 179 total during her four years.
Guastella graduated from Quinnipiac in 2015 with her bachelor’s degree in health science and was an MAAC All-Academic selection. She earned her master’s of business administration degree in marketing from La Salle in 2020.
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