ASU women find

new assistant coaches
From staff reports

Appalachian State women’s head basketball coach Darcie Vincent completed Appalachian State University’s women’s basketball coaching staff for the 2009-10 season Wednesday, adding assistants Heather Kearney, Andrea Gross and Kiesha Mack.

Kearney joins the Mountaineers following a one-year stint as the head coach at California University (Pa), and eight years as an assistant coach under Vincent for the Vulcans. Gross comes to ASU from Colgate University, where she served as an assistant coach for two seasons, while Mack heads to the high country by way of East Stroudsburg University where she served as an assistant for one season.

“All three of these women will do a tremendous job for us,” Vincent said. “Each of them excel in different areas and it is like the pieces of the puzzle have finally come together. They all bring great enthusiasm and knowledge of the game of basketball to our program and I am looking forward to the upcoming season and what we can accomplish together.”

In her lone year as the head coach at the University of California-Pennsylvania, Kearney led the Vulcans to an Division II NCAA Elite Eight apperance, along with a final national ranking of number four in the country.

The Vulcans posted a 29-5 record during 2008-09, including a spotless 17-0 mark at home.

Her team also captured the PSAC West title and won the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament.

For her efforts she was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year.

Prior to becoming head coach, Kearney served as an associate head coach for four years at Cal under Vincent and had been an assistant coach for the Vulcans since 2000. In all, she helped Cal U achieve eight straight NCAA tournament apperances, seven PSAC West championships, four conference crowns and the 2004 NCAA Division II national championship.

Kearney also played under Vincent at Slippery Rock from 1995-1999, where she led The Rock to an NCAA Division II East Regional Championship. She also was a Kodak all-American, the 1996 PSAC West Rookie of the Year and finished her career with the Sliders as the career-leading scorer and second in career-rebounding. She earned her undergraduate degree in sports management and master’s degree in counseling.

“Heather is a great addition to our program, and adding her to the staff elevates us to the championship mentality,” Vincent said. “Her knowledge of the offense and the inside game completely strengthens us as a staff. She will run our offense next season and serve as our associate head coach.”

Gross comes to Appalachian having a large amount of coaching experience, most recently serving as an assistant coach at Colgate and also having coaching stints at Longwood for one season and Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) for two seasons. While at IUPUI, Gross helped the Jaguars have the largest turn around in Division I during the 2006-07 season.

Before coaching at IUPUI, Gross was a graduate assistant at California (Pa.) where she helped the Vulcans capture a national championship.

“Andrea joining our staff was a pleasant surprise,” Vincent said. “She was a graduate assistant and a part of our national championship team at Cal (Pa.) She has a great mind for the game and is a phenomenal recruiter.”

Rounding out the staff, Mack spent one season at East Stroudsburg University before accepting the position at ASU. Prior to her stint at ESU, she was an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at West Chester Henderson High School. She also coached the West Chester Sparks AAU team and is the founder and director of the Kiesha Mack’s Girls Basketball Camp.

Mack played basketball at West Chester University, and was the PSAC East Rookie of the Year during the 2000-01 season, earned second team honors her sophomore campaign and closed out her final two seasons with consecutive PSAC East Player of the Year accolades. She also finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer, having the career-record in three pointers and the top three single season marks in three pointers in school history.

She graduated from East Stroudsburg in 2005 with a B.S. in Marketing.

“Kiesha is a very mature young woman with a lot of experience and will be an asset to our program,” Vincent said. “She has a great desire to coach and will have the task of handling our guards. She is very intelligent, and like the other two coaches she brings a ton of enthusiasm and energy.”