Atlanta Hawks’ first female assistant coach has embraced the twists and turns of her career!
Playing basketball at the University of Northern Iowa was a difficult experience. I had four knee surgeries during my collegiate career, and I spent so much time in and out of the lineup, battling back from injury. Fortunately, I was able to finish out my college basketball career on a high, even after doctors told me there was very little chance of me playing again. I played minutes on the court in a game during my senior night and it felt like I was able to reclaim my story, which dated back to my having a basketball in my hands by the time I could walk.
My dad, Jeff, played basketball in college and coached me throughout my youth, including into my high school years in Northern Iowa. Basketball really connected us, and we shared a love and understanding of the sport. It really bonded us. I played volleyball and golf, and I ran track, but I gravitated towards basketball; it’s a non-stop team sport, and you have to have a cohesion and connection with your teammates to go out there and solve problems every two seconds when you’re on the court. It’s so much fun. And while I had hoped to play professionally, I knew that was not in the cards for me physically.
From there, my story is full of detours and pivots. In fact, coaching wasn’t even on my radar. After I graduated college in 2015, where I studied statistics and actuarial sciences, I went to work as a business analyst in a call center, crunching numbers and data. I realized the job was not for me, and I tried to figure out how to get back into basketball or a team sport environment. My research revealed that many sports organizations hire data analysts, and I thought that it would be cool to marry my two passions: basketball and numbers. I became a data analyst for a technology company in Chicago that catered to professional sports teams, so I created reports for NBA teams. That led to an opportunity to work with the Toronto Raptors in their front office as a data analyst. After the team won the NBA championship in 2019, a few spots opened up on the coaching staff. The team knew my background, which gave me an edge, and I was offered the chance to transition to coaching. I learned so much, including how to teach basketball, something that is very different from playing.
After four years with the Raptors, I took some time away from the NBA and co-founded Strata Athletics, a youth basketball academy in Austin, Texas, that was designed to help kids have fun while developing their skills in today’s competitive sports environment. Strata is where I met Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, who brought me to Atlanta after my yearlong stint on the Detroit Pistons’ coaching staff. When he became the head coach of the Hawks in early 2023, he asked me to join his staff. It was the perfect fit; there’s a lot of alignment between Coach Snyder and me in the way we think about basketball and the world. I was so excited to work alongside him.
My time with the Hawks has been fantastic. I’m also so proud to be the first female coach for the team, as I was for the Raptors and the Pistons, but it’s also important for me to help change the narrative that there are inherent challenges for women coaching men. I played basketball my whole life, and up until college, I was predominantly coached by men. Nobody asks them about the challenges associated with coaching women. That’s because we’re all athletes. We all speak the same language, and that’s basketball. I don’t take being the first female coach lightly, and my goal is to not be the last for each of the three teams I’ve worked with.
I have many goals but I try not to predict what my career will be in 10 years because I love that my pathway has had many unexpected turns. Since I arrived in Atlanta, the Southern hospitality has been amazing. Atlanta is such an outdoorsy city, I often walk along the BeltLine. I’m having a wonderful time exploring. I’m grateful to have this opportunity when I’m still early in my career. Being in a city that is so welcoming has given me a real sense of belonging.
