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WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Stephanie Gaitley has been named the head women's basketball coach at Monmouth University, Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Marilyn McNeil announced at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“This is a real watershed moment for Monmouth Athletics,” said McNeil. “When this opportunity arose there was certainly one person that was on the top of my list. I have been watching Stephanie Gaitley for her years at LIU and I was impressed with how she conducted herself. She is a winner.”
Gaitley, who comes to Monmouth from Long Island University, is the sixth Division I head coach in MU women's basketball program history. She served as the head coach of the Blackbirds for the previous six seasons, accumulating a 95-82 record at the helm of the program. Last season, she guided LIU to a school-record 24 wins and the top seed in the Northeast Conference tournament. In her time in Brooklyn, she led LIU to a pair of 20-win seasons, the first NEC Regular Season title in school history, the first WNIT bid in program history and was named the 2006-07 NEC Coach of the Year. In 22 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Gaitley has amassed a career record of 407-233.
“I am excited about this challenge,” said Gaitley. “In meeting the team in a short window I felt very much at home. This challenge is something that I embrace. I love the vision that I see here at Monmouth University.”
Gaitley's teams have always prided themselves on defense, as evidence by her Blackbird squad that led the Northeast Conference in scoring defense the last two years, including holding the opposition to 54.8 points per game last season.
Prior to her stint with Long Island, Gaitley was the head coach at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, Pa. for 11 seasons. She led the Hawks to five 20-win seasons and two Atlantic 10 Championships in her time there while earning five NCAA Tournament bids, including three at-large berths. Her teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament three times and she earned both a preseason and postseason WNIT bid while with Saint Joseph's. She led the Hawks to a 196-88 mark in her 11 years in Philadelphia.
Gaitley's first collegiate head coaching job was at the University of Richmond from 1985-1991. While with the Spiders, she compiled a 116-63 record while winning 20 or more games in a season four times. She led Richmond to two Colonial Athletic Association Championships and earned a pair of NCAA Tournament bids. She was named the CAA Coach of the Year in 1989-90 and also led the Spiders to a WNIT bid.
The Ocean City, N.J. native's first foray into collegiate coaching came after she graduated from college, where she was an assistant at Saint Joseph's from 1982-85.
Gaitley graduated from Villanova in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education and was an academic All-American that season. She received her Master of Science degree in secondary education at Villanova in 1983. The school inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 1993, three years after she was enshrined into the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame. Gaitley served as chairperson of the Kodak All-America Committee from 1998-2001 and is a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Gaitley takes over a Monmouth program that went 11-20 last season and returns All-NEC Second Team selection Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech), as well as eight upperclassmen. Monmouth is scheduled to bring in five freshmen next season.
At Monmouth University, Gaitley will be reunited with her son Dutch, who is a sophomore on the men's basketball team.
Gaitley will be interviewed this afternoon at 4:40 p.m. on “The Locker Room” with Kevin Williams on WOBM 1160AM.
