Head coach Megan Duffy announced in a statement Monday afternoon that Itoro Coleman will join the Marquette women’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach, replacing Scott Merritt.
“We are thrilled to welcome Itoro Coleman, her husband Harold and their family to Marquette,” Duffy said in the statement. “I was blown away by her commitment to excellence both on and off the court. Itoro brings an incredible passion and competitiveness to the game of basketball and will make an immediate impact on both current and future Marquette student-athletes.”
Coleman comes to the Golden Eagles after an eight-year tenure at Penn State from 2014-19 as an assistant coach for former head coach Coquese Washington, who is now at University of Oklahoma.
“I am extremely excited to be a part of the Marquette family,” Coleman said in the statement. “Megan is a well-respected coach in our profession. Her love for the student-athletes and her will to be the best is infectious. When you have a proven winner in your leader combined with winning tradition and winning culture, great things happen.”
Aside from assistant coaching at Penn State, Coleman has served other roles, including recruiting coordinator. She helped guide three top-25 recruiting classes to the Nittany Lions.
Prior to PSU, Coleman was the head coach at Clemson from 2010-13 where she led the Tigers to two top-30 recruiting classes, including South Carolina’s Player of the Year. In 2012, Coleman’s squad broke the school record for blocked shots with 168, which ranked fourth in the NCAA.
Before her coaching days, Coleman was a standout defensive player at Clemson. During her playing days in Death Valley, Coleman was a 3-time All-ACC team honoree, an AP All America Honorable Mention and the 1999 ACC Tournament MVP and ranked in the top 10 in scoring, assists and steals in the program.
In 2003, Coleman became the first Clemson player to make a WNBA roster, playing for the Indiana Fever and Houston Comets that season. She was also captain of the Nigerian National Team in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Coleman will now join Justine Raterman and Vernette Skeete as assistant coaches on Duffy’s staff.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
