Niagara women’s basketball head coach Jada Pierce announced the hiring of Julie Kaufman as an assistant coach. Kaufman most recently spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Seton Hill University, an NCAA Division II program in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
“I’ve known Julie for the past seven years and have watched her progress as a coach from afar,” said Pierce. “She has been a major part of rebuilding programs at a lower level and she felt this was a necessary next step to challenge herself at the Division I level. I agree that she is more than ready for this. Her energy, passion to teach/mentor young people, as well as overall knowledge of the game, makes her a natural fit for our program. As we continue to build, I felt it was best to add someone with Julie’s experience.”
At Seton Hill from 2013-2016, Kaufman primarily worked to help develop the post players. She worked closely with former Purple Eagle Katie Gattuso, who was named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Women’s Basketball All-Star team as a second team selection and finished her career with 1,435 points and a team-leading 964 rebounds, as well as being selected for the WBCA Academic Top 25 Academic Team. Kaufman helped Seton Hill in 2015-16 to national rankings in defensive rebounds per game (26th) with 29.0 per game and 3-point field goal defense (64th).
From 2011-2013, Kaufman served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Shepherd University, part of the NCAA Division II’s West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In her final season at Shepherd, the team was ranked 14th in the nation in scoring offense with 74 points per game and 17th in field goal percentage (43.6).
Kaufman began her college coaching career as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division III Hood College from 2008-2011.Prior to that, Kaufman served as the assistant varsity basketball coach and assistant track and field coach at Southern Guilford High School from 2006-2008 and at Damascus High School from 2005-2006.
Kaufman played collegiate basketball for four year at Catawba College, where her team won two conference championships and earned two NCAA Division II regional appearances.
“I would like to express my excitement for this opportunity to work with Jada Pierce and her staff at Niagara University,” said Kaufman. “Coach Pierce is someone that shares the same vision for our team and passion for the game as I do, which was essential for my next career decision. Niagara University is an institution where I felt comfortable and welcomed as soon as I stepped on campus. I am eager to meet the team and get started working towards our goals for next season. I would like to thank Jada and Niagara University for giving me this opportunity and would also like to thank previous institutions where I have worked in preparing me for this next step in my coaching career.”
Kaufman earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education from Catawba College in 2005 and completed her master’s in curriculum and instruction at Hood College in 2011.
http://www.purpleeagles.com/news/2016/6/17/kaufman-joins-womens-basketball-staff.aspx
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