Coach Mac Introduced as New Women's Basketball Head Coach

In the search for a new women's basketball head coach, William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond met with the players in an effort to see what they were looking for.

He found what mattered most to them was that they wanted to be better, reach their full potential, and bring the program back to prominence at The Heights.

Fully committed to make the right choice, Jarmond found in University of Albany head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee not only someone who fulfills what the players are looking for, but also someone who fulfills the mission of Boston College as a whole.

And with that, on Wednesday afternoon Jarmond officially introduced "Coach Mac" to the fold at Boston College.

"One of the comments that (the team) made to me was they wanted to be pushed, they wanted to be challenged and they wanted to reach a new level," said Jarmond. "I said to them that you have my word that I'm going to go out and we're going to find a coach that's going to do just that…I can tell you 100% we secured that person in Joanna. The process was thorough. I didn't commit to how fast, I wanted to get it right, and we got it right."

On top of finding someone who understood the values of Boston College on and off the court, it was important for Jarmond to not only obtain a coach with a winning pedigree, but one who has also shown success in a rebuilding situation.

In three seasons as the head coach at Pikeville, McNamee did just that turning a 14-win team into a 26-win team that was challenging for an NAIA title in her second season.

At Albany she kept a strong program on track, posting consecutive 20-win campaigns and an America East Tournament Championship.

"We wanted to find someone that understood BCs mission to develop academically, athletically, socially and spiritually, motivate and inspire," said Jarmond. "We wanted a winner who knows what it takes to build a program. Someone who had been in a situation where they had to turn around a program."

A former assistant at Maryland, Coach Mac is familiar with the days when Boston College women's basketball was a concern on the schedule, and she is adamant about returning the program to that reputation once more.

"I've coached against Boston College in the era when they were a feared opponent in the ACC and Big East…we all want BC women's basketball to be where women's basketball fans migrate."

Immediate areas that the newest coach on The Heights is looking to address is getting the team in shape, working on rebounding and positive perseverance, citing these three areas as the initial building blocks for the program because they are areas they have full control over right now.

McNamee is looking to run an up-tempo style of play and envisions her team as being the most in shape in the ACC, which she notes as "the greatest women's basketball conference in the country right now."

Other notions that she will be looking to firmly instill in her new group includes confidence, discipline, hard work and trust as bricks in a foundation that will start building Boston College women's basketball back up.

"The first step is getting to know my players," explained McNamee. "The second part of that is getting that belief and confidence instilled, because winning 100% is the mentality that we're going to have. we're not going to settle for anything less than that. We're going to get in great shape, we're going to do it with trust and love and we're going to hit it."

Coach Mac Introduced as New Women's Basketball Head Coach

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