The first addition to head coach Michelle Clark-Heard‘s inaugural University of Cincinnati women’s basketball coaching staff was announced Tuesday as Melissa Kolbe was named an assistant coach.
“I am so excited to have Melissa join me here at Cincinnati,” said Clark-Heard. “She is one of the most loyal and hardworking individuals I know. I’m looking forward to many more amazing years together.”
Kolbe, with 17 years of experience as an NCAA Division I assistant, comes to UC after spending the past three seasons on Clark-Heard’s staff at WKU. Previously, her coaching stints included stops at Mount Saint Mary’s (2014-15), Eastern Kentucky (2008-14), ECU (2002-08), Mercer (2001-02), and Valdosta State (1999-2001).
While at WKU, Kolbe helped guide the Lady Toppers to 78 total wins, two Conference USA Tournament Championships, and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in just three years.
Prior, she spent a season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Mount St. Mary’s under head coach Bryan Whitten. Before that, Kolbe was on staff at EKU, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2008-2014. She aided in the Colonels’ back-to-back winning seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14 before helping the program to its first-ever trip to the Women’s Basketball Postseason Invitational (WBI) in 2014.
Previously, Kolbe worked as an assistant coach at ECU for six seasons from 2002-08. In her first season in Greenville, North Carolina, the Pirates made the C-USA Tournament for the first time. The most successful season for the Pirates during the six-year span came in 2006-07 when ECU won its first C-USA Tournament Championship to earn its second-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament and its first in 25 years.
Kolbe spent the 2001-02 season serving as an assistant coach at Mercer, helping the Bears to a 16-13 record. In her only season in Macon, Georgia, Kolbe contributed to Mercer’s 10-win improvement from the previous season, which was the biggest turnaround in the NCAA during that season.
Beginning her coaching career at Valdosta State in 1999, Kolbe spent two seasons at the NCAA Division II institution before making the jump to Division I at Mercer in 2001.
Kolbe, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, graduated from Wittenberg in 1999 with a degree in psychology. As a player for the Tigers, she helped lead the team to three conference championships and two NCAA Tournament trips.
http://gobearcats.com/news/2018/4/3/kolbe-joins-womens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx
Tagged with: Assistant Coach DI
