WBCA announces new members of its board of directors

ATLANTA (June 27, 2017) — University of Miami, Florida, athletic administrator Jennifer Strawley is one of three people appointed to fill vacancies on the WBCA Board of Directors, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association office announced today.

Strawley, the deputy director of athletics and senior woman administrator at Miami, replaces West Coast Conference Senior Associate Commissioner Connie Hurlbut as the collegiate athletic administrator on the WBCA board. Hurlbut terms out after serving six years.

Others appointed to the WBCA board are Polly Thomason, head coach at the University of Texas-Dallas, who fills the NCAA Division III legislative chair position made vacant by the selection of Emory University head coach Christy Thomaskutty as WBCA vice president; and University of California associate head coach Charmin Smith, who fills the assistant coach director position vacated by now University of Nevada head coach Amanda Levens.

The appointments were made by majority vote of the board of directors. All three will be seated at the board’s next meeting on Thursday, July 13, in Atlanta.

“We welcome Jenn, Polly and Charmin to the WBCA Board of Directors,” said incoming WBCA President Jennifer Rizzotti, who is head coach at George Washington University. “Our sport is in a very good place due in no small measure to the unity among stakeholders in the women’s basketball community. There is no greater example of these collaborative efforts than the WBCA Board of Directors, which is composed of coaches of the game at almost all levels of competition, athletic administrators, and professionals from the public sector who work together for the good of our association and our sport.”

The board also filled two vacancies on its executive committee created by Thomaskutty’s elevation to vice president and Hurlbut’s departure. NCAA Division II director Chris Kielsmeier, head coach at Wayne State University, Nebraska, takes Thomaskutty’s place as the NCAA Division II/III at-large director on the committee; and longtime board member Rich Ensor, commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, replaces Hurlbut as the athletic administrator on the committee.

The WBCA Board of Directors, which manages the business and affairs of the association, is composed of 24 voting members, as well as additional nonvoting members who provide technical or other advice and assistance to the voting members. The board’s executive committee, which is composed of the association’s officers and additional at-large board members, exercises the authority of the board in the management of the WBCA’s affairs during intervals between board meeting and supervises the association’s executive director.

Here is the complete 2017-18 WBCA Board of Directors roster of members (x-denotes executive committee member):

OFFICERS

•  Jennifer Rizzotti, head coach, George Washington University (President)-x

•  Christy Thomaskutty, head coach, Emory University (Vice President)-x

•  Coquese Washington, head coach, Penn State University (Immediate Past President)-x

•  Lacey Lewis, senior vice president of finance, Cox Enterprises (Treasurer)-x

•  Danielle Donehew, executive director, WBCA (Secretary), nonvoting

VOTING DIRECTORS

•  Karen Aston, head coach, University of Texas (NCAA Division I Midwest)

•  Courtney Banghart, head coach, Princeton University (NCAA Division I East)

•  Brad Chapman, global head, Strategic Operations & Integration, Neurology PVU Seizure Freedom Mission, UCB (public sector)

•  Tricia Cullop, head coach, University of Toledo (NCAA Division I Mideast)

•  Chancellor Dugan, head coach, Bellarmine University (NCAA Division II Group I)

•  Rich Ensor, commissioner, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (collegiate commissioners)-x

•  Lisa Fortier, head coach, Gonzaga University (NCAA Division I West)

•  Brandan Harrell, head coach, Georgia Highlands College (junior/community colleges)

•  Nels Hawkinson, executive director, Basketball Travelers Inc. (Leadership Advisory Council chair)

•  Trish Jones, principal, eMentorConnect LLC (public sector)

•  Chris Kielsmeier, head coach, Wayne State University, Nebraska (NCAA Division II Group II)-x

•  Mary Klinger, head coach, Rutgers Preparatory School, New Jersey (high schools)

•  Pat Manning, head coach, Williams College (NCAA Division III)

•  Jason Martens, head coach, St. Mary’s University (NCAA Division II legislative chair)

•  Muffet McGraw, head coach, University of Notre Dame (NCAA Division I legislative chair)-x

•  Kirsten Moore, head coach, Westmont College (NAIA)

•  Charmin Smith, associate head coach, University of California, Berkeley (assistant coaches)

•  Mary Beth Spirk, director of athletics/head coach, Moravian College (NCAA Division III)

•  Jennifer Strawley, deputy director of athletics, University of Miami, Florida (athletic administrator)

•  Polly Thomason, head coach, University of Texas at Dallas (NCAA Division III legislative chair)

NONVOTING DIRECTORS

•  Anucha Browne, vice president of women’s basketball championships, NCAA

•  Carol Callan, women’s national team director, USA Basketball

•  Diane Dickman, managing director of Division I governance, NCAA

•  Martha Pullataz, professor of psychology and neuroscience, Duke University

•  Dawn Staley, head coach, University of South Carolina, NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee
 

About the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association

Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.