Providence College women’s basketball Head Coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl announced that Dana Eikenberg has joined the program as an assistant coach. Eikenberg spent the last three years at Wichita State University, first as the Director of Basketball Operations (2011-12), and the last two years as an assistant coach (2012-14).
"I am thrilled to have Dana join the Friar Family," Robinson Fruchtl said. "Her experience as both a head coach and an assistant coach, at successful programs, will be invaluable to our staff and student-athletes. It’s special to know that as former teammates we will be working together to make dreams become reality. Dana comes to Providence with an expectation of winning and being great. This winning mentality is the mindset that our program strives to uphold."
In 2013, Wichita State won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Shockers returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 after capturing the MVC crown for the second-consecutive season. During Eikenberg’s two-year stint as an assistant coach, Wichita State posted a 50-17 overall record.
As a player at Penn State, Eikenberg was a four-year starter at point guard from 1988-92, and teammate of Robinson Fruchtl. During her career with the Nittany Lions, Eikenberg played on three-consecutive NCAA Tournament teams (1990, 1991 and 1992), while helping the program achieve its first No. 1 national ranking in 1991.
In addition to her work at Wichita State, Eikenberg is president & CEO of Reinvent1, an innovative consulting firm providing leadership development and support to leaders in the athletic profession, including coaches, administrative leaders and their staff. She has over 20 years of Division I coaching success and extensive experience helping leaders and teams overcome challenges and succeed.
A former Missouri Valley Coach of the Year and head women’s basketball coach at Southern Illinois University (SIU), Eikenberg started her professional career in the Women’s European Basketball League in Karlsruhe, Germany, where she coached teens at a U.S. Army base.
Upon returning to the U.S., Eikenberg also served on the women’s basketball staff at the University of Illinois, Indiana State University and the University of Iowa. Before joining Southern Illinois, she was head women’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC).
Eikenberg is a popular speaker and presenter, sharing real-life stories of challenge and change with alumni, community, youth and professional groups.
While playing along side Robinson Fruchtl at Penn State, Eikenberg was a three-time recipient of the program’s Joanie O’Brien Most Outstanding Player Award. She currently ranks tied for sixth all-time in assists at Penn State (567) and is tied for 17th all-time in steals (182). Eikenberg led the Lady Lions in assists during each of her four years with the program.
After graduating from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in communications (1992), Eikenberg spent one season playing professionally in Germany. She earned her master’s degree at the University of Illinois.
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