ATLANTA, Ga. – Drake women's basketball received national recognition for their commitment to academic success, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced this morning.
Drake was one of three MVC programs to land in the 2023-24 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. The Bulldogs were joined by Belmont and UNI in the rankings while Bradley, Valparaiso, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, and UIC all garnered special mentions.
Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach
Allison Pohlman's bunch were slotted ninth in the WBCA Academic Top 25 after posting a cumulative team grade point average of 3.772.
"The WBCA is pleased to recognize those women's basketball programs that have committed themselves to excellence on the court and in the classroom," WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew said. "The 112 teams we honor this year strive to achieve all-around success and we commend their efforts. Congratulations!"
The entire Top 25 and list of special mentions is included below.
| Rank |
Institution |
Head Coach |
GPA |
| 1 |
Youngstown State |
John Barnes |
3.868 |
| 2 |
Western Illinois |
JD Gravina |
3.866 |
| 3 |
Maine |
Amy Vachon |
3.856 |
| 4 |
Northern Illinois |
Lisa Carlsen |
3.811 |
| 5 |
Belmont |
Bart Brooks |
3.803 |
| T6 |
Northern Iowa |
Tanya Warren |
3.780 |
| T6 |
Green Bay |
Kevin Borseth |
3.780 |
| 8 |
Missouri |
Robin Pingeton |
3.772 |
| 9 |
Drake |
Allison Pohlman |
3.736 |
| 10 |
Toledo |
Tricia Cullop |
3.724 |
| 11 |
Abilene Christian |
Julie Goodenough |
3.715 |
| 12 |
Merrimack |
Kelly Morrone |
3.696 |
| 13 |
Davidson |
Gayle Fulks |
3.679 |
| 14 |
California Baptist |
Daniel Cook |
3.675 |
| 15 |
North Florida |
Erika Lambert |
3.674 |
| 16 |
Wyoming |
Heather Ezell |
3.672 |
| 17 |
South Dakota State |
Aaron Johnston |
3.652 |
| 18 |
Houston Christian |
Donna Finnie |
3.636 |
| 19 |
Northern Arizona |
Loree Payne |
3.629 |
| 20 |
Saint Peter's |
Jennifer Leedham |
3.628 |
| 21 |
Gonzaga |
Lisa Fortier |
3.623 |
| 22 |
Boise State |
Gordy Presnell |
3.614 |
| 23 |
Harvard |
Carrie Moore |
3.613 |
| 24 |
Fairleigh Dickinson |
Stephanie Gaitley |
3.606 |
| 25 |
NJIT |
Mike Lane |
3.595 |
Special Mention: Lafayette, Kia Damon-Olson, 3.594; Portland, Michael Meek, 3.580; UNC Charlotte, Tomekia Reed, 3.573; Robert Morris, Chandler McCabe, 3.540; Holy Cross, Maureen Magarity, 3.535; Drexel, Amy Mallon, 3.533; Bradley , Kate Popovec-Goss, 3.529; DePaul, Doug Bruno, 3.529; Richmond, Aaron Roussell, 3.528; Milwaukee, Kyle Rechlicz, 3.527; Western Michigan, Shane Clipfell, 3.522; Albany, Colleen Mullen, 3.521; Stonehill, Trisha Brown, 3.520; UC Santa Barbara, Renee Jimenez, 3.519; Illinois, Shauna Green, 3.509; Bowling Green, Fred Chmiel, 3.508; East Tennessee State , Brenda Mock Brown, 3.506; Valparaiso, Mary Evans, 3.506; Pacific, Bradley Davis, 3.504; Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Royce Chadwick, 3.495; Fresno State, Jaime White, 3.494; Yale, Dalila Eshe, 3.493; Lehigh , Addie Micir, 3.481; Fairfield, Carly Thibault, 3.475; Kent State, Todd Starkey, 3.471; Florida Gulf Coast, Karl Smesko, 3.471; Iona, Angelika Szumilo, 3.464; Cleveland State, Chris Kielsmeier, 3.464; Utah, Lynne Roberts, 3.446; Binghamton, Bethann Shapiro Ord, 3.438; Creighton, Jim Flanery, 3.428; Indiana, Teri Moren, 3.428; Eastern Washington, Joddie Gleason, 3.421; Colgate, Ganiyat Adeduntan, 3.420; Elon, Charlotte Smith, 3.419; Villanova, Denise Dillon, 3.417; Vanderbilt, Shea Ralph, 3.416; La Salle, Mountain MacGillivray, 3.413; San Diego, Cindy Fisher, 3.412; Florida State, Brooke Wyckoff, 3.410; Montana State, Tricia Binford, 3.409; Saint Joseph's, Cindy Griffin, 3.401; Stanford, Tara VanDerveer, 3.401; Iowa State, Bill Fennelly, 3.389; Alabama, Kristy Curry, 3.386; Longwood, Erika Lang-Montgomery, 3.383; Illinois State, Kristen Gillespie, 3.380; South Florida, Jose Fernandez, 3.377; Lipscomb, Lauren Sumski, 3.372; Ohio State, Kevin McGuff, 3.372; Denver, Doshia Woods, 3.365; UC Irvine, Tamara Inoue, 3.362; Syracuse, Felisha Legette-Jack, 3.358; Georgetown, Darnell Haney, 3.356; California, Charmin Smith, 3.339; Georgia State, Gene Hill, 3.329; New Hampshire, Megan Shoniker, 3.328; Iowa, Lisa Bluder, 3.327; Tulane, Ashley Langford, 3.320; Louisville, Jeff Walz, 3.319; Nevada , Amanda Levens, 3.312; Hofstra, Danielle Santos Atkinson, 3.308; Bethune-Cookman, Janell Crayton, 3.303; Rider , Lynn Milligan, 3.302; Tennessee, Kellie Harper, 3.301; Seton Hall, Anthony Bozzella, 3.298; Portland State, Chelsey Gregg, 3.298; UAB, Randy Norton, 3.297; Liberty, Carey Green, 3.296; Kansas State, Jeff Mittie, 3.281; Penn State, Carolyn Kieger, 3.281; Pennsylvania, Mike McLaughlin, 3.272; St. Bonaventure, James Crowley, 3.250; Massachusetts, Mike Leflar, 3.246; Kansas, Brandon Schneider, 3.245; Sacramento State, Aaron Kallhoff, 3.243; Tulsa, Angie Nelp, 3.239; UNLV, Lindy La Rocque, 3.238; Colorado, JR Payne, 3.225; Niagara, Jada Pierce, 3.222; Southern Illinois, Kelly Bond-White, 3.220; Oklahoma State, Jacie Hoyt, 3.216; Arizona State, Natasha Adair, 3.188; Brigham Young, Amber Whiting, 3.178; West Virginia, Mark Kellogg, 3.163; Central Florida, Sytia Messer, 3.156; Texas A&M-Commerce, Valerie King, 3.151; Oklahoma, Jennie Baranczyk, 3.139; Illinois Chicago, Ashleen Bracey, 3.129; Notre Dame, Niele Ivey, 3.122; UMass Lowell, Denise King, 3.117; Rutgers, Coquese Washington, 3.094; Maryland, Brenda Frese, 3.087; St. John's, Joe Tartamella, 3.078; Georgia Southern, Anita Howard, 3.046; North Carolina, Courtney Banghart, 3.012; Texas Tech, Krista Gerlich, 3.009; North Texas, Jason Burton, 3.005.
