After taking over the reins of the University of Pikeville women’s basketball program in early May, head coach Brandon Bias has been hard at work completing his coaching staff for the 2016-17 season. The three hires to help lead the Bears were announced by Bias on Tuesday.
Taking over the lead assistant role will be Summer Quesenberry who most recently spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky.
The two graduate assistant positions went to Kylee Gorby, a recent graduate of Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., where she played four seasons for the Eagles, and Shelby Wheeler, who spent last season as the director of women’s basketball operations at NCAA Div. I Stetson following a collegiate playing career at Florida Southern College.
Bias had high praise for all three of the hires.
“Any time you can hire an assistant coach with head coaching experience, I feel it’s a huge benefit,” said Bias of Quesenberry. “I feel we made a great hire with Coach Q. We both like an up-tempo style of basketball and I’ve always respected the teams she has had at Brescia.”
For Bias, the two graduate assistants bring skills and experience that fit exactly into what he wants to build at UPIKE.
“I believe Kylee has a bright future in coaching,” said Bias. “She was a great player at Asbury and I know she is going to bring that same energy into this coaching staff. It didn’t take long after talking and meeting with her for me to know she was a perfect fit for the staff we were trying to put together.
“Shelby, I believe, has a lot to bring to this coaching staff as well. I feel with her experience at the division-one level, she will be able to help a lot in the development of our younger players. She is very organized with a strong background in video, making her a perfect fit for our last coaching opening.”
Summer Quesenberry
Quesenberry led Brescia to 13 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) wins in the 2015-16 season, the most in program history. Her squad posted a 10-1 record at home, including an undefeated mark in conference play. Quesenberry led the Bearcats to a runner-up finish in the conference standings, the highest KIAC finish in school history.
Under Quesenberry’s guidance, Brescia finished in the top ten of nine different NAIA Div. II statistical categories, including, first in assist to turnover ratio. Quesenberry also recruited and coached WBCA and NAIA All-American, Julie Whitfill, who was selected KIAC Player of The Year for 2016. Whitfill became the program’s all-time leading scorer, as well as the career leaders in threes made.
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to join Coach Bias at UPIKE and serve in a program that possesses a culture rich in on the court success and prides itself on the student-athlete experience,” said Quesenberry. “UPIKE’s affiliation with the Mid-South Conference is exciting to me as a coach, as I believe it’s the top athletic conference in NAIA Division I.
“I’m proud to be associated with an elite and respected institution such as UPIKE and look forward to helping Coach Bias continue to build upon the program’s success already experienced by this young and very talented team.
Prior to Brescia, Quesenberry was an assistant women’s basketball coach and head women’s tennis coach at NCAA Division III Mount Saint Joseph, in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the 2011-12 season. Before that she spent two seasons as an assistant at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. Quesenberry began her coaching career at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where she served as the Interim Head Women’s Basketball Coach during the 2008-2009 season.
Quesenberry is a 2008 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University where she played four seasons for the Battling Bishops and legendary Coach Nan Carney-DeBord.
Kylee Gorby
While at Asbury, Gorby was a four-year member of the women’s basketball team. Throughout her career, Gorby accumulated over 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists, while leading the winningest class in Asbury history to a record of 98-34.
Gorby helped Asbury capture back-to-back KIAC Championships, making two NAIA National Tournament appearances where the Eagles advanced to the second round during her junior and senior seasons.
Individually, Gorby was a first team all-conference selection and made the NAIA All-Tournament team during her senior campaign.
At UPIKE, Gorby will assist the staff in video editing, serve as a co-head coach of the junior-varsiy team and assist with player development.
A Leitchfield, Ky., native, Gorby graduated from Asbury with a degree in media communications in 2016.
Shelby Wheeler
Wheeler most recently served as the Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at Stetson University for the 2015-16 season. While there, she organized team travel, transportation, meals, lodging and the ordering and distribution of equipment. Wheeler was also responsible for managing video coordination for practices and games and team managers.
For Stetson’s 2015 Elite and Team Camps, Wheeler served as co-director, handling the set up and operations aspects. From 2013-15, Wheeler was a team manager at Stetson, helping at practices and coordinating game-day operations.
Before attending Stetson, Wheeler played two seasons (2011-12, 2012-13) at Florida Southern College. The team won the 2012 Sunshine State Conference Regular-Season title and participated in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
At UPIKE, Wheeler will assist the staff in video editing, serve as a co-head coach of the junior-varsity program and assist with player development.
A native of Greenwich, Ohio, Wheeler graduated from Stetson in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media Studies.
http://upikebears.com/news/2016/6/14/bias-completes-womens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx
Tagged with: NAIA Staff
