Five Atlantic 10 women’s basketball coaches on the Kathy Delaney Smith watch list

HOPEWELL, N.J. – Five Atlantic 10 women’s basketball head coaches, the most of any conference, were selected to the Kathy Delaney-Smith Coach of the Year Preseason Watch List.

Gayle Fulks (Davidson), Vanessa Blair-Lewis (George Mason), Aaron Roussell (Richmond), Cindy Griffin (Saint Joseph’s) and Beth O’Boyle (VCU) were all named to the 20-person watchlist presented by Your Hoop Stats. This is the second season of the award named after the legendary former Harvard head coach. Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier was named the award’s inaugural winner last season. This year’s watch list includes coaches from 14 conferences.

Under Fulks’ leadership, the Wildcats were selected to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll and junior guard Charlise Dunn was named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team. The Cats finished last season with an overall record of 18-8, including a 12-1 start to the year. In a tough schedule, the Wildcats defeated two of their three ACC opponents (RV/#22 Duke 69-62, Wake Forest 57-52) and came within two baskets of beating the third (UNC 70-74).

In the 2021-22 season, Blair-Lewis took over a program that had won just three games against Division I opponents the year before. In their third season, George Mason won 22 games against Division I opponents, with six of the eight losses coming by single digits. Blair-Lewis has the Patriots ranked third in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, with the league’s top four Preseason All-Conference honorees: Zahirah Walton, Ta’Viyanna Habib, Nalani Kaysia and Kennedy Harris.

Roussell will begin his sixth season as head coach of the Richmond women’s basketball team in 2024-25 after taking over in 2019. After a historic 2023-24 season, Richmond posted a program-record 29 wins and captured its first Atlantic 10 championship and earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament – ​​the Spiders’ first appearance since 2005. The Spiders were selected to compete again this season to win the Atlantic 10 and feature three Preseason All-Conference honorees: Addie Budnik, Maggie Doogan and Rachel Ullstrom.

Griffin enters the 2024-25 season with 446 career wins, with 398 of those wins coming at Hawk Hill. Last season, Griffin led the Hawks to a program-record 28 wins and recorded her ninth season with at least 20 wins. Under her leadership, the Hawks set a new program standard with a 13-game road win streak to start the season and earned the most road wins in the country (15) during the 2023-24 season. The Hawks were ranked second in the 2024-25 Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll and had three student-athletes named to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference Teams: Tayla Brugler, Laura Ziegler and Mackenzie Smith.

O’Boyle orchestrated a major defensive overhaul, jumping from the 186th defensive ranking by HHS Defensive Rating to the 36th defensive ranking last season. The Rams finished second in the Atlantic 10 with a 15-3 record and finished fifth this year. VCU is led by three Preseason All-Conference honorees: Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, Mary-Anna Asare and Mykel Parham.

The 10-person midseason watch list will be announced in January. The five finalists for the award will be announced in March, with the winner named around the Final Four. Coaches are evaluated throughout the season, including the postseason. Beyond on-pitch success, other factors such as recruiting, pre-season expectations, injuries and tactical coaching are also taken into account when assessing each candidate. Inclusion on previous watch lists is not a requirement for consideration for future watch lists.