麻豆影院

麻豆影院 State Announces New Women's Basketball Coach

Former Memphis associate head coach becomes the fifth coach in program history.

Former Memphis associate head coach becomes the fifth coach in program history.

麻豆影院 Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen has announced the hiring of Danielle O鈥橞anion as women's basketball head coach.  O鈥橞anion takes over as the fifth head coach in the 37-year history of 麻豆影院 State women鈥檚 basketball after spending the last four seasons on staff at Memphis.

鈥淒anielle possesses the characteristics we look for, not only as an institution, but within our department,鈥 Nielsen said. 鈥淪he's a very driven person and someone who鈥檚 very confident in her abilities. Her reputation as a winner and a proven national recruiter are sure to bring energy and success to our women鈥檚 basketball program.鈥

An 11-year coaching veteran, O鈥橞anion takes over the 麻豆影院 State program following her four-year stint in Memphis, including the last two as associate head coach. Owning the reputation as a proven national recruiter, she served as designated recruiting coordinator for the program, helping the Tigers ink three nationally-ranked recruiting classes. The highly touted classes fostered by O鈥橞anion have lived up to their billing on the court as well guiding the program into the postseason each of the last three years.

With her guidance, Memphis has accomplished just as much in the classroom during her tenure. The program has graduated 29 consecutive seniors from its roster, not including the five-member class of 2012 (two of which already have their respective degrees). Just this last fall, six student-athletes from the team achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

鈥淚 hold the responsibility of representing the 麻豆影院 State community in high regard, and I am eager to help young people realize their dreams in the blue and gold,鈥 O鈥橞anion said. 鈥淚 could not be more excited to be here. I want to thank University President Dr. Lester Lefton, Provost Todd Diacon, Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen and sport supervisor Tom Kleinlein for giving me this great opportunity.鈥

Classroom success and deep runs through the postseason are nothing new to the Arlington, Va., product. In 10 years as a collegiate coach, she has been on staff for nine postseason teams, including a Final Four and two Sweet 16 berths while on staff at Minnesota from 2003-07. In addition, she has been a part of two other NCAA appearances with the Golden Gophers in 2006 and at Harvard in 2002.

The 33-year old first joined the staff at Memphis in 2008 and was then promoted to associate head coach in 2010. During her time on the Tigers鈥 bench, she helped head coach Melissa McFerrin put the cornerstones in place for three straight 20-win and postseason squads, signing 15 players over two years. Those players helped Memphis to the finals of the 2010 Women鈥檚 Basketball Invitational (WBI) and in to field of the 2011 and 2012 WNIT each of the last two seasons.

In addition to serving as the Tigers鈥 recruiting coordinator, O鈥橞anion coached the perimeter players and directed the Memphis defensive attack with a pressure-oriented, full-court defense that quickly became the calling card for the program. Under her watch鈥 the team has averaged more than 11 steals per game the last three years, including a league best 11.8 spg in 2011-12 when the Tigers also led Conference USA with more than 20 forced turnovers per contest.

O鈥橞anion also assisted in the development of guards Brittany Carter and Ramses Lonlack. Carter is currently in the WNBA鈥檚 Connecticut Sun training camp following a three-time first team All-C-USA career that was capped off by a Lowe鈥檚 Senior CLASS Second-Team All-America selection. Meanwhile, Lonlack was named the 2012 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year.

Before making her way to Memphis, O鈥橞anion spent the 2007-08 season coaching at her alma mater, Episcopal High School in Virginia, where she was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. Prior to her return to her alma mater, she spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Her time with the Golden Gophers marked her first opportunity to work alongside Coach McFerrin. Together, they coached the Minnesota guards, most notably WNBA All-Star and Kodak All-American Lindsay Whalen. The Gophers appeared in the postseason all five seasons of O鈥橞anion鈥檚 time in Minneapolis, highlighted by a 2004 NCAA Final Four and two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. O鈥橞anion also served as the team鈥檚 academic liaison at Minnesota, helping to establish women鈥檚 basketball as the Big Ten leader in Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

O鈥橞anion first entered the coaching profession in 2002 as an assistant coach at Harvard University where she helped legendary Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith鈥檚 Crimson squad win the Ivy League championship and earn an automatic NCAA tournament berth in her only season on staff.

As a student-athlete, she played for Boston College from 1997 to 2001. With O鈥橞anion in the lineup, the Eagles captured the first two NCAA berths in school history in 1999 and 2000 advanced to the second round in both tournament appearances. A team co-captain as a senior, she earned a degree in psychology in 2001, receiving Big East Academic All-Star honors.

O鈥橞anion is committed to growing and giving back to the basketball community. She is an active member of the Women鈥檚 Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and serves on two WBCA award committees. A 10-year member of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA), O鈥橞anion will serve as president of the nearly 6,000 member organization until 2013. She is also a proud graduate of the Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) program, co-sponsored by the NCAA and the BCA.  O鈥橞anion is the daughter of Julia and Delancie.

POSTED: Friday, April 20, 2012 01:29 PM
Updated: Saturday, December 3, 2022 01:02 AM
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Intercollegiate Athletics