Following up on some DIRT from earlier in the week. Andrea Preston is no longer the Women’s Basketball Head Coach at Goucher College. She has been promoted within the athletics department. Here is the official release from the college:

 Goucher College Director of Athletics and Associate Dean of Students Andrew Wu announced Friday that Andrea Preston, current Associate Director of Athletics and head women’s basketball coach, has been promoted to the newly-created role of Senior Associate Director of Athletics, effective July 1. 

Preston, the department’s Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) and Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee, will continue in both of those roles.  She will step down as the Gophers’ women’s basketball coach after five seasons but will remain in that position until a successor is in place.  A national search for the next women’s basketball coach will begin immediately. 

“I’d like to thank Dr. Wu, Dr. (Aarika) Camp and President (Kent) Devereaux for the opportunity to continue to serve Goucher College, our student-athletes, and staff in this new and expanded role,” said Preston, who arrived at Goucher as the eighth women’s basketball head coach in the NCAA era in April of 2017 and was named Associate Athletic Director and SWA in November, 2019.  “This dedicated position will afford me the opportunity to continue to grow professionally and I am grateful for the chance to do that within this community.  Our student-athletes are developing leadership skills that will position them for success beyond their time at Goucher and I am excited to be a part of that process through bolstering our efforts with academic support, student-athlete development and diversity, equity and inclusion.”

“I’d also like to thank my women’s basketball student-athletes that have been committed and dedicated to building the program and I look forward to being their biggest cheerleader moving forward.”

“I’m beyond thrilled to announce this move that will prove so beneficial for our department and our student-athletes, but also because we have the perfect person for this role. Andrea is extraordinarily talented as an administrator and leader, and she has the ability to work as a student-centered practitioner while balancing the many demands of this position,” said Wu. 

“Andrea stepping into this role opens up a number of big-picture exciting opportunities for us. This restructuring of responsibilities will not only allow her to work towards important departmental priorities, but open myself up to commit more time and energy to working with our Advancement team and others.” 

In her new position, Preston will continue to oversee NCAA compliance and will add sport supervision duties for select sports.  As Goucher’s Senior Woman Administrator as well as its Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee, Preston will help assess and evaluate gender and diversity, equity and inclusion issues that arise in the department in both NCAA-mandated roles.  She will also oversee the College’s indoor athletics facilities.

Preston arrived at Goucher in 2017 after being an assistant coach at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.  She served as the head women’s basketball coach at Hiram College from 2007-14 and Clarkson University from 2005-07.  A 2001 graduate of Luther College with a degree in Health and Physical Education, she went on to earn her Master’s in Exercise and Sports Science with a concentration in Sports Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.

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