Allison Pohlman, a longtime associate head coach and one of the primary architects of the Drake women's basketball program's renaissance, was named the Suzie Glazer Burt Head Women's Basketball Coach at Drake University April 18, 2021 and is entering her fifth season leading the Bulldog women with a career record of 93-42.
Pohlman guided the Bulldogs to another remarkable campaign with records of 22-12 overall and 15-5 in MVC play. By winning 22 games, Pohlman became the first coach in Drake women's hoops history to win 20+ contests in each of her first four seasons. The 2025 season came to an end in postseason play as the Bulldogs recevied an at large berth into the WBIT. Pohlman again employed the talents of individual stars like guard Katie Dinnebier, who captured her second straight Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year Award along with a littany of other conference and national awards, and forward Anna Miller, who became the program's all-time leading shot blocker.
Her third season at the head coach in Des Moines was a historic one as Pohlman led the Bulldogs to a record number 29 wins. Along the way, the Bulldogs won their the program's 10th MVC Regular Season championship, and eighth MVC Tournament championship, the second in a row for Drake. With both titles under their belt, Drake traveled to Manhattan, Kan. as a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament where the battled No. 5 seed Colorado in their 15th NCAA Tournament berth in program history. Earlier in the season, Drake earned an in-state rivalry win over Big 12 finalist Iowa State. Individually, Pohlman guided three players to All-MVC honors. Junior guard Katie Dinnebier earned First Team All-MVC honors and took home the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year Award while being named a Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year finalist. Gradaute Grace Berg joined Dinnebier on the First Team while forward Anna Miller won the league's Defensive Player of the Year and was a Second Team selection.
Pohlman led Drake to another historic season in 2022-23 as the team took down No. 22 ranked Nebraska 80-62 early in the season and eventually captured their seventh MVC Tournament championship and their 14th NCAA Tournament berth in program history. The Bulldogs' run to the Hoops in the Heartland crown included blowout wins over Illinois State in the semifinals, which was the largest margin of victory over the top seed in tournament history, and Belmont in the title game. The Bulldogs traveled to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Tournament where they battled No. 5 seed Louisville to the last possession. During the season, Megan Meyer and Maggie Bair were both honored with MVC Player of the Week award. Bair also collected First Team All-MVC honors. Grace Berg and Katie Dinnebier earned Third Team All-MVC recognition while the latter added an All-Defensive Team honor. Sophomore forward Anna Miller was also honored on the All-Defensive Team and also garnered the league's Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year awards.
Pohlman’s debut season (2021-22) saw five bulldogs receive All-MVC honors, including Grace Berg and Megan Meyer on the All-MVC First team. Megan Meyer was named the Valley Newcomer of the Year and the team received an at large bid to WNIT where they advanced to the Round of 16. Katie Dinnebier, Megan Meyer and Anna Miller were all awarded MVC Newcomer of the Week throughout the season, with Miller receiving the recognition three times.
Pohlman has been a member of the Drake staff since 2007 and elevated to associate head coach in 2014 by then-head coach Jennie Baranczyk.
"Allison has been a critical part of our women's basketball program's success. Throughout this process, it became incredibly apparent that in addition to her proven record of achievement as an assistant, she also possessed the perfect combination of vision, drive and leadership to continue the ascent of our program as its head coach," Drake Director of Athletics Brian Hardin said. "Her passion for our program, University and student-athletes is unrivaled. Allison's values align perfectly with our athletic department and I know she will continue the Drake women's basketball tradition of developing strong women leaders both on the basketball court and in life."
In her 15 years on the Drake campus, Pohlman has crafted and established a proven legacy of culture building, on-court excellence and the ability to recruit and develop some of the finest student-athletes in Drake history.
As the Bulldogs' recruiting coordinator under Baranczyk, Pohlman has assembled rosters that advanced to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, won four regular-season Missouri Valley Conference titles, two MVC Tournament championships and a record of 123-39.
Her recruiting efforts led to Bulldogs earning six Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year honors and four MVC Freshman of the Year accolades. A total of 27 of her recruits have earned All-MVC honors during her tenure.
Those same student-athletes have helped the Bulldogs become a source of pride in the Des Moines community and an elite team in the classroom. The culture that Pohlman helped direct led to the team annually performing more than 1,000 hours of community service. Academically, the team has ranked in the top 10 nationally in team GPA for six-straight seasons, with the Bulldogs earning a total of six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans to rank among the national leaders.
Pohlman's success and familiarity in the MVC and within the state of Iowa run even deeper than her 14 years at Drake.
Before joining the Drake staff, she spent seven seasons on staff at UNI and served as the Panthers' associate head coach during the 2006-07 campaign. She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at UNI in 2000-01 before being elevated to an assistant coach for the following season at her alma mater.
As a player from 1996-2000, the former Allison Starr, was one of the top student-athletes in UNI history as the centerpiece in the rejuvenation of UNI women's basketball under retired head coach Tony DiCecco. In 1997, she was named to the MVC's All-Freshman team. In each of her final three seasons, she was named All-MVC First Team and to The Valley's All-Defensive Team.She was runner-up to Jackie Stiles for the MVC's Player of the Year award in 2000 and named The Valley's Defensive Player of the Year.
Pohlman capped her career by ranking second in UNI history with 1,463 points, third with 711 rebounds, second with 274 steals, fifth with 278 assists, and the school record holder for free throws made, free throws attempted, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, double-doubles and steals per game. Pohlman was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2011.
The Wellsburg, Iowa native and her husband, Kirk, have triplet daughters, Quinn, Rubie and Sidny. Pohlman holds a bachelor's of science in Dietetics and a master's degree in Health Education from UNI.
