| ||||||||||||||
Stephanie McCormick returns for her eighth overall season, including her fifth consecutive on the Western Carolina coaching staff after returning to Cullowhee prior to the 2004-05 season. She serves as the recruiting coordinator for the program as well as opponent scouting and team academics. She also focuses on the development of the Catamount post players, which were her duties during a a time with with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball program.
While at Western Carolina McCormick has helped recruit and coach numberous All-Conference selections. All-freshmen selections include Erin May, Lauren Powell (Freshman of the Year), Heather Swayne and Emily Clarke. Post players she have coached who received all-conference accolades include: Jennifer Gardner (SoCon Most Outstanding Player) and Brooke Johnson.
Prior to her season at Georgia Tech, she served as an assistant coach at UNC Charlotte, working with the 49er's post players and assisting with both recruiting, team travel and scouting. In 2003, she helped lead the team to the Conference USA regular season title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. She helped bring in a recruiting class that ranked in the Top 25 in the country. Three of her freshmen were named to the Conference USA All-freshman team, two of which McCormick worked with in the post.
Before joining the staff at Charlotte, McCormick was the associate head coach at UNC Wilmington from 1999-2001, after being an assistant coach with the program in 1998. During the 2000 campaign, she helped lead the Seahawks to an 18-12 record, the most wins for the program since 1988. She also recruited a pair of CAA All-conference performers while at UNCW.
McCormick began her coaching career in 1994 at Western Carolina, spending three seasons with the Catamounts. As Western's top recruiter, she developed a pair of All-Southern Conference post players in Karen Mason and LaSha Jackson, both of whom earned second team honors in 1997 and rank in the top 15 in WCU career record books for points and rebounds.
A native of High Point, N.C., McCormick started for four years at Catawba College, where she was the first player in school history to finish their career with over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She finished her four years averaging 10.7 points and 10.6 rebounds and still holds the school record for career (1,244) and single-season (374) rebounding totals. McCormick earned All-South Atlantic Conference and All-District honors as a junior in 1993. She graduated in 1994 from Catawba with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration.
She is the daughter of Peggy and Alfred McCormick. While at Western Carolina she gained guardianship of nephew Rodney Keef McCormick who is now a sophomore at Spartanburg Methodist College.
