WBB Coaching Hot Board 1.2

Who should Wisconsin hire to lead the Badgers into the 2025-26 season?

Now that the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team is in the market for a new head coach, it’s time to spin the Wheel of Coaches and speculate wildly on who will be on the bench for UW to start next season. Marisa Moseley reportedly resigned on Sunday after her fourth year at the helm in Madison and now Wisconsin will face another program rebuild.

What makes a coach successful? Well,,,it’s hard to say. When Moseley was hired most thought it was a smart hire, especially given her pedigree as a successful head coach at Boston University and her lengthy stint as an assistant at perennial power UConn. Turns out…that wasn’t enough!

Coaching, especially in college, is a difficult job and there is no exact equation that results in a coach having success at a particular stop. There are certain characteristics that UW should still take into account, however. Here is a brief list of what I would look for in a new coach:

• clear communicator

• tireless salesperson

• preaches ball security, defensive effort, and rebounding tenacity

• adaptability, both in-game and from season to season

• doesn’t need to be from Wisconsin, or a Wisconsin alum, but should be familiar with the upper Midwest and the immediate recruiting area

• embraces analytics but understands to use them as a tool in their tool box and not the end-all be-all of decision making

Now, here is Part 2 of coach names that I think Wisconsin should at least consider for the head coaching position. These are current D1 assistant coaches who may be in line for a promotion to the head chair. Strap in, folks, because I found a lot of names interesting and I’m including ALL of ‘em.

You can find Part 1 (D2 and D3 coaches) right here:

(The names are listed alphabetically.)

Current D1 Assistant Coaches

• Tasha Brown, UCLA assistant coach

  • is in her seventh season with the Bruins currently

  • before joining UCLA in 2018, Brown was an assistant at Rice for one year, an assistant at Cincinnati for five years, four years as the head coach at Western Michigan, three years as an assistant at Wisconsin (!!!), and four years as an assistant at UC-Santa Barbara before that

  • she has been the recruiting coordinator at a number of stops in her career and she focuses on guard development

  • while at Wisconsin she was a part of the staff that set a program record with 23 wins

  • played college ball at Illinois Central College for two years, one year at Southwest Missouri State, and then a year at St. Ambrose (Iowa); started her coaching career at St. Ambrose after graduating

  • native of Rock Island, Ill.

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• Kelly Komara, Purdue associate head coach

  • just finished her fifth season (two were from 2014-2016) on Purdue’s bench

  • focused on guards

  • coached for two years at Marquette before returning to Purdue; spent five years at Vanderbilt before that where she was associate head coach for three seasons; before her first stint at PU, she worked at Albany, Valpo, Auburn, and Northwestern in what her Purdue bio says was “a variety of roles.”

  • played at Purdue; won national title in 1999 and national runners-up in 2001; 3x All-Big Ten selection; 2001 NCAA Mideast Regional Most Outstanding Player; 2002 Big Ten DPOY

  • drafted in the third round of the 2002 WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever; she also played professionally in Greece

  • native of Schererville, Ind.

• Michaela Mabrey, Notre Dame assistant coach

  • finishing her sixth season as Notre Dame assistant

  • was named recruiting coordinator for the Fighting Irish in 2022 and was integral in recruiting Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron to South Bend

  • as a player at Notre Dame she played in three Final Fours and won four conference titles (one Big East, three ACC) AND four conference tournament titles (one Big East, three ACC); she was also a team captain for her final two seasons

  • worked at Miami (Fla.) as the coordinator of program and player development for one year; worked at Miami (Ohio) as an assistant for one year; then was the Director of Recruiting at LSU for one year; then joined Notre Dame’s staff

  • sister is Marina Mabrey who currently plays for the Connecticut Sun

  • hometown is Belmar, N.J.

• Madison McKeever, St. Thomas assistant coach

  • coached at St. Thomas for past two years

  • coached at Concordia-St. Paul for two years before that

  • played at South Dakota; won Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year as a freshman; 3x Summit League Honorable Mention

  • native of Erskine, Minn.

  • honestly, she might be more of a candidate for an assistant coach position at Wisconsin, but I think she’s worth keeping an eye on

• Morgan Paige, Kansas associate head coach

  • this was her fourth season on staff at KU and first as associate head coach

  • her first three years in Lawrence she was also the recruiting coordinator

  • spent five seasons at North Dakota State where she was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator

  • before that she was a grad assistant at Iowa State for one year

  • she played four years in college at Wisconsin, graduating in 2014, and is currently the 18th leading scorer in program history

  • played in Romania for one year as a pro

  • her younger brother is Marcus Paige who starred at UNC before being picked by the Brooklyn Nets in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft

  • hometown is Marion, Iowa

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• Justine Raterman, Michigan assistant coach

  • coached this past season at Michigan

  • focuses on post players

  • spent the previous five seasons at Marquette, four as an assistant and the final year as associate head coach; she was also the recruiting coordinator for MU

  • before that she was at Miami (Ohio) for two years, one year as video coordinator and one year as an assistant

  • played four years at Dayton; she finished her career fifth in program history for points and rebounds; she was the 2009 A-10 Rookie of the Year and the 2012 A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player

  • from Versailles, Ohio

The next post will cover current D1 head coaches that Wisconsin should look at poaching for their open position.