Slippery Rock University director of athletics Roberta Page has announced the hiring of former St. Louis University women’s basketball associate head coach Ryenn Micaletti as head coach of The Rock women’s basketball program.
A New Castle, Pennsylvania native and veteran coach with 12 years of collegiate experience, including the last seven years at the NCAA Division I level, Micaletti is set to become the 17th head coach in SRU women’s basketball history.
“I am absolutely convinced we have hired the right person to bring a championship culture to Slippery Rock University women’s basketball,” said Page. “I am excited about the energy and experience Ryenn brings. Her passion and enthusiasm for helping young women develop on and off the court and her extensive coaching success made her an ideal candidate to lead our program into the future.”
Micaletti comes to Slippery Rock after serving one season as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Division I St. Louis, where she helped lead the Billikens to the first A-10 Tournament title and first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history last winter.
“I want to thank Dr. Page and Dr. Wilmes for their leadership, support and believing in me and my vision for Slippery Rock women’s basketball,” said Micaletti. “I have known for a long time how special it is to have an opportunity to coach at The Rock. I am ecstatic to be back home in the area where I grew up and to represent Rock women’s basketball. This is an amazing institution that competes in one of the best Division II conferences in the nation. I am looking forward to getting to work with this administration and these young women in our pursuit of building a championship program on and off the court.”
Micaletti is uniquely familiar with Division II basketball and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, having spent time both as a player and as a coach in the PSAC Western Division. She played collegiately for four years at Seton Hill, graduating in 2011 with a degree in history with a certification in secondary education after helping the Griffins to go 45-16 with an NCAA Tournament appearance in her final two seasons. She also spent one year as an assistant coach at Indiana University (Pa.) before she was hired by former SRU head coach Bobby McGraw as an assistant coach at Slippery Rock in 2014.
She spent two years as an assistant at SRU under McGraw from 2014-16, helping to lead the program to its first PSAC playoff appearance in a decade and helping to mentor one of the best players in program history, D’Asia Chambers, who is still playing professionally overseas.
After two years at Slippery Rock, Micaletti rejoined former coworker and IUP assistant coach Rebecca Tillett at the U.S. Naval Academy, making the jump to the Division I level as an assistant coach. She worked at Navy from 2016-20, helping the Midshipmen to back-to-back Patriot League runner-up honors and two trips to the WNIT Tournament.
Tillett was hired as the head coach at Longwood University and Micaletti joined her in 2020 and took the next step in her career when she earned the title of associate head coach. She helped lead Longwood to a 36-19 overall record in two seasons that included an NCAA Tournament victory over Mount St. Mary’s and a Big South Conference title in 2022. Longwood had five players earns postseason honors in each of Micaletti’s two seasons, which included the conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honorees in 2022.
Following the 2021-22 season, Micaletti followed Tillett to St. Louis University, where she again served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. At St. Louis, Micaletti helped to quickly turn the program around, leading the Billikens to their first A-10 Tournament title and first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history in just her first year on the staff.
“My time coaching alongside Rebecca Tillett has been everything I could have dreamed of,” said Micaletti. “From being assistants together and discussing the idea of us running our own college programs to competing in postseason play, winning back-to-back conference championships and playing in the NCAA Tournament twice, we were blessed with the chance to live out our dreams. I am beyond grateful to every single player who was a part of my journey. I am a better woman and coach because of my experiences with them.”
Micaletti was influenced heavily in the early stages of her career by former Slippery Rock head coach Bobby McGraw, who passed away unexpectedly last summer. McGraw was one of the first basketball coaches and mentors to encourage her to pursue a career in coaching and helped her land her first coaching position when she was hired as an assistant coach at Point Park in 2011.
“I would also like to take this time to acknowledge the late Bobby McGraw,” said Micaletti. “His love and belief in me has been a thread throughout my entire career, bringing me full circle to this very moment.”
Micaletti will take over the Slippery Rock program from acting head coach Chenara Wilson, who was elevated from the assistant coach position to active head coach for the 2022-23 season after the unexpected passing of McGraw. Wilson returns to the position of assistant coach and remains under contract at SRU.
“I would like to thank Chenara for serving as the acting head coach this season,” said Page. “She stepped up during an incredibly difficult time for this program and I appreciate her effort in guiding us through this year.”
Slippery Rock finished the 2022-23 season with a 15-13 overall record and had two players, Deleah Gibson and Isabellah Middleton, earn second team All-PSAC honors.
Micaletti will officially begin her duties at Slippery Rock Friday, May 12.
MICALETTI’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL CAREER PATH
• 2007-11 – Seton Hill University (student-athlete for four years)
• 2011-13 – Point Park University (assistant coach)
• 2013-14 – Indiana University (Pa.) (assistant coach)
• 2014-16 – Slippery Rock University (assistant coach)
• 2016-20 – U.S. Naval Academy (assistant coach)
• 2020-22 – Longwood University (associate head coach)
• 2023-23 – St. Louis University (associate head coach)
• May 2023 – Slippery Rock University (head coach)
