Young Harris College Director of Athletics Randy Dunn announced that Matt Stearsman has been named the next head coach for the Mountain Lions women’s basketball program.
Stearsman had served as interim head coach since mid-December. Stearsman led the Mountain Lions (10-16 overall, 7-12 Peach Belt Conference) to seven of their 10 wins this season. Under Stearsman’s guidance, Young Harris is currently ranked 11th in the latest NCAA Division II statistics in scoring defense (allowing opponents 56.5 points per game) and 20th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.273).
"I am proud to announce that Matt Stearsman will be our new head women’s basketball coach," said Dunn. "Matt is an excellent individual who is very knowledgeable about the game of basketball. He is an incredibly enthusiastic and passionate coach who I believe will build a program that the entire YHC community will be very proud of."
"I want to thank President Cathy Cox and Director of Athletics Randy Dunn for showing their confidence in my ability to lead this program," said Stearsman. "I am extremely humbled by this opportunity. This is a special place to coach and there are not many programs in Division II who have the support Young Harris College and this community provides."
Stearsman joined the Mountain Lions in 2013 originally as an assistant coach after spending two seasons as a member of the Gannon University men’s basketball staff. He arrived in Erie, Pennsylvania, prior to the 2010-11 campaign after serving as the associate men’s head coach at St. Catharine College the previous two seasons. In 2009-10, he helped produce the best turnaround in the country as St. Catharine posted a 21-11 record. Five of those victories came against top 25 teams. The 21 overall wins came one year after the program won only five games in 2008-09. Patriot players earned all-conference honors five times during his two seasons on the staff.
Prior to his stint at St. Catharine, Stearsman was a men’s assistant coach for one season (2007-08) at Georgia Southwestern State University and two seasons (2005-07) at Oklahoma City University. He helped Oklahoma City produce a 64-10 record during that two-year span. The Stars advanced to back-to-back NAIA national championship games, winning the national title at 2007. The program finished No. 1 in the final 2007 national rankings and No. 7 in the final 2006 poll. At Oklahoma City, he was able to tutor NAIA All-America third-team members Nick Covington (2007) and Dawud Drew (2006).
Stearsman began his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at NCAA Division II men’s power Kentucky Wesleyan College from 2002-05. In 2003, the Panthers finished as the NCAA Division II national runner-up.
Before coaching at Kentucky Wesleyan, Stearsman was an assistant at Hopkins County Central High School. Stearsman was a two-sport student-athlete at Hopkins County Central, being a three-year starter at first base in baseball and lettering once in basketball. A Mortons Gap, Kentucky, native, Stearsman is a 2001 graduate of Hopkins County Central and a 2006 graduate of Oklahoma City with a bachelor’s degree in English.
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