IU Northwest Head Women’s Basketball Coach Ryan Shelton has announced the promotion of Weslee Wilson to Assistant Head Coach and the additions of Nicki Monahan and Grayce Roach (SR/Hobart, IN) to its’ 2019-20 coaching staff.
Shelton expressed his gratitude to Wilson and enthusiasm about the opportunity to work with the new staff, “I couldn’t be more excited to work closely on the coaching side with three of the most outstanding players in our program’s history. Weslee (Wilson) has already established herself as a proven and valuable asset as a coach this past-season in helping to lead our program to a program best 27 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance in the National Tournament this past season.”
“Nicki and Grayce are two of the top three players in our program’s history due in large part to their great understanding of the game combined with their passionate and committed work ethic. It says a lot about our program’s success that three of the best players in our history will make up our staff this coming season. The three of them are incredibly hard workers that we trust, that combined their understanding of what it takes to be successful at this level in our program will be a great resource for our players,” added Shelton.
Wilson, a native of Monroe City, Ind. who played her final two seasons at IU Northwest under Shelton, helped lead the RedHawks to the National Tournament as both a player in 2017 and as assistant coach in 2019. She surpassed 1,000 career points for her college career while with the RedHawks following a stellar junior college career at Olney Central College. As Assistant Head Coach, Wilson now assumes lead assistant coaching duties on the RedHawks bench in addition to her role as recruiting coordinator. She will also oversee off-season player development and strength programs for the program and assume lead coaching duties for the RedHawks summer league team. Wilson will earn her B.A. in Psychology this May from IU Northwest.
Shelton also announced the addition three-time NAIA All-American, Nicki Monahan to the IUN coaching staff beginning this summer. Monahan started 124 games for the RedHawks over four years in a decorated career from 2013-2017 scoring 2,219 points (2nd all-time) while averaging 17.9 points across four seasons. She was twice honored as A.I.I. Conference Player of the Year (2015, 2017), as well as 2014 A.I.I. Freshman of the Year, four-time AII First Team All-Conference, and a three-time NAIA All American while leading the RedHawks to the National Tournament in 2017. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from IU Northwest (’18).
Monahan returns to IUN after spending the last two years working at nearby Portage High School as a Volunteer Assistant as well as taking the role of developmental coach for the Indians. She also coached at one of Portage’s feeder programs at Willowcreek Middle School where she led her 7th Grade team to a Conference Championship.
Prior to her collegiate career, Monahan played at nearby Portage High School where she was the all-time leading scorer for the Indians with 1,157 points under current Crown Point Head Coach Chris Seibert. She credits Portage Girls Varsity Coach with her first opportunity in coaching and looks forward to returning home to the RedHawks where she starred for four seasons.
“I am really excited to get back to IUN. It was my home for four years and I am looking forward to getting back to work with the team. I am grateful to Coach (Ryan) Shelton for the opportunity for me to join his staff and I’m excited to get to work with my former teammates Weslee (Wilson) and Grayce (Roach),” said Monahan.
Monahan’s responsibilities will include player development, film exchange, opponent scouting and operations. She is currently completing her Physical Therapist Assistant certification at Ivy Tech.
2019 NAIA All-American, and native of Hobart, Ind. Grayce Roach joins the RedHawks staff as Graduate Assistant Coach for the 2019 season, following a stellar four-year career with the RedHawks. Roach completed her career with program ranks of, first all-time in career starts (128), third in points (1,814) and first in assists (484). She was a four-time A.I.I. All-Conference selection, three-time NAIA Academic National Scholar Athlete, the 2015 A.I.I. Freshman of the Year, and a 2019 NAIA All-American. Roach led the 2018-19 RedHawks to a school record 27 wins (27-8) and run to the Sweet 16 in the NAIA National Tournament in which she scored a tournament high of 36 points in the opening round.
Roach’s primary responsibilities will include film exchange and opponent scouting, operations and player development, strength and conditioning. She earned her B.A. in Communications (2018) degree from IU Northwest and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Affairs from IUN.
Roach and Monahan will be back together again as they formed one of the nation’s top backcourts from 2014-2017 and together along with Wilson, led IUN to a 2017 National tournament, 25-7 record and No. 12 NAIA National Ranking.
http://www.iunredhawkathletics.com/article/1186
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