Coaching Carousel Update: April 11, 2024
Endicott and Virginia Wesleyan have new head coaches, William Peace head coaching job opened this week
We’ve got another coaching carousel update! There has been pretty limited movement in the D3 women’s basketball head coaching ranks as of late, and it feels like this offseason is going to have fewer head coaching changes than last year, when we ended up with 66 when all was said and done.
That said, we just had a head coaching announcement from Endicott about an hour ago, so that will lead off this coaching carousel update!
Endicott has hired Jamie Insel as the program’s next head coach, replacing Brittany Hutchinson, who had led the program for the last 13 seasons. Insel, the 2020 WBCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year, comes from the Division I ranks where she was an assistant at Boston University this past season. It marked her second D-I job in the last two years, as she previously coached under Bates alum Adrienne Shibles at Dartmouth during the 2022-23 campaign.
Insel’s D-III coaching experience is notable, as she most recently contributed to Tufts’ success from 2019-2022, helping the Jumbos post a 50-6 record during her two seasons in Medford. In 2019-20, Tufts held the nation’s No. 1 ranking for 12 straight weeks and won 26 consecutive games, a new program record. That opportunity at Tufts came after a stint at Colby College from 2017-19, which included spending time as the interim head coach, and prior to that, she was on the staff at MIT.
Insel is a talented recruiter, which will be key in bringing Endicott’s program to a place of success within the CCC. At MIT, she recruited Kara Holinski, who became the D3hoops.com Northeast Region Rookie of the Year in 2015-16, and was the primary recruiting coordinator during her time at Dartmouth and Boston University. Her ability to recruit talented, high-academic players should fit well as she now steps into her first head coaching position.
"The search committee and I are thrilled that Jamie Insel will be Endicott's next head women's basketball coach. Her playing and coaching experience, along with her strengths in building confidence amongst her student-athletes, and genuinely connecting and building strong relationships separated her from a very strong applicant field," said Endicott Assistant Vice President and AD Dr. Brian A. Wylie in a press release. "This, coupled with her passion and ability to articulate a clear plan for our program shined above. We look forward to her continuing to build upon the foundation that has been set, and are most enthusiastic about her experiences with student-athlete development and leadership."
Virginia Wesleyan announced the hiring of head coach Megan Green last Friday, completing that coaching search after a series of challenging seasons in that program. Green gets her first head coaching job after assistant coaching stints at Dickinson and Mary Washington in addition to one year as a grad assistant at Castleton.
Green has been around plenty of winning as both a player and a coach, having led Mary Washington to a 24-5 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015-16, followed by yet another NCAA Tournament appearance (and a first round win) and a 24-5 record in 2016-17. In both years, Green was a team captain, and one of Mary Washington’s key leaders on the floor.
Recently with Dickinson, the Red Devils went 19-8 this past season, achieving 19 wins in a year for the first time since 2007. The year prior, Dickinson’s coaching staff was named Centennial Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for the first time in program history after a 17-8 campaign.
“It has been a pleasure working with Megan the past two seasons. She is a proven winner and has been successful at every stop of her coaching career," said Dickinson Head Coach Aby Diop in a VWU press release. "Her passion, dedication, and excitement for the game will be felt immediately by the Marlin community. I couldn't be more proud as Megan's impact as a leader and role model expands beyond the court has made a difference here. I look forward to watching the difference she will make at VWU."
Green is looking to lead VWU to its first winning season since 2018-19. The positive right now roster-wise is that many of the returners will be sophomores this upcoming season, which should give Green a foundation and some consistency in her first few years as she makes the program her own.
The William Peace University head coaching job officially opened yesterday, and that program will now have a new head coach for the second straight year with Lori Drake stepping away after leading the Pacers to an 8-17 record in her lone year at the helm.
A program in the USA South Conference that is located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, William Peace went 23-5 in 2019-20 before things turned sideways coming out of Covid. Prior to this season, the Pacers won five games over the course of two seasons between 2021-2023.
The 2019-20 season proved that success can certainly be found in this program, with the right leadership, and adding to the depth on the roster just a bit. They had just nine on the roster this past season, but notably, seven of those were freshmen, sophomores, or juniors, meaning at least 78% of the roster could be back next year.
On the assistant coaching front, a position was posted at Whitman a couple days ago. That is a high-level program in the NWC, and Michelle Ferenz is one of, if not the, the most accomplished coaches in Region 10 right now.
Additionally, Baldwin Wallace has a paid internship position available heading into this upcoming season, per head coach Cheri Harrer. Another excellent opportunity on a great Division III coaching staff.
I have ZERO inside info, but as is typically the case around this time of year, every head coaching job that opens tends to have a trickle down effect. In other words, even the highest-level D1 jobs that open can potentially cause movement at the D3 level. We shall see. Again, I have no inside information right now, but it is something to keep an eye on as more jobs start to open at the D1 and D2 levels. The D3 to D1 jump is certainly plausible, but even indirectly we could see a D2 head coach hired for a D1 job, which then opens that D2, who turns around and hires a successful D3 head coach. A few interesting ones right now at the D1 level that I have seen are Presbyterian, Northern Kentucky, Marshall, Monmouth, and now, Green Bay. Each of those could have either a D3 head coach in the running, create an opportunity for a current D3 head coach to move up as a D1 assistant, or as mentioned, open up a D2 job that is filled by a D3 head coach. Something to be paying attention to.
NAIA Mayville State is also open and I bring this up because it is an institution worth keeping an eye on from a Division III perspective. Just a few weeks ago, Mayville State president Brian Van Horn wrote in column posted to the university website (link here) that nine UMAC representatives visited Mayville State on March 11 as that continues to be a clear option for the MSU athletic programs. Their current NAIA conference, the NSAA, is dropping to five members schools starting in 2025-26 (Jamestown joining for one year temporarily keeps the conference at 6, though Jamestown is moving up to D2 in 2025), which has forced those institutions to look at other options for conference affiliation.
This news isn’t new, but it is interesting when you look at things timing-wise. Mayville State will need an invitation from the UMAC to apply for Division III membership, and with Northland on the brink of closure, it seems logical that the UMAC would be eager to find a replacement for Northland, keeping the league at 8 full members. Just something to be paying attention to as the summer approaches. I have heard we should expect to see some movement in the coming weeks with at least two current Division III conferences, so stay tuned.
That will wrap this up…hope everyone has had a great week! I should have a Way-Too-Early Top 30 coming out next week, so keep an eye out for that. I cannot guarantee it will even be close to what I end up with for my official Preseason Top 25 ballot in October, but we’ll see! As always, feel free to share this newsletter with someone who might also enjoy it, and feel free to reach out via email (rileyzayas@gmail.com), on X/Twitter (@ZayasRiley), or leave a comment below. Have a good day!