Ashley McElhiney Vanderbilt, 2003 Women's Basketball Assistant Coach First Year

7/16/2007 8:00:00 PM | By: GoMocs.com

Former Vanderbilt women's basketball standout, Ashley McElhiney, has been hired as an assistant women's basketball coach for the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, head coach Wes Moore announced Friday.

"Ashley will be a tremendous asset to our program in a lot of areas," Moore said. "She will be an energetic recruiter, a great coach for our guards and a great role model for all of our players."

McElhiney, a four-year letterwinning performer at Vanderbilt University (1999-2003), was most recently an assistant coach at the University of Alabama after a one-year stint as the head coach of the Nashville Rhythm of the American Basketball Association. She made history in that position by serving as the first female head coach of a men's professional basketball team. McElhiney guided the Rhythm to a 21-10 record and a berth in the ABA playoffs in their inaugural season.

As a player at Vanderbilt, McElhiney helped guide the Commodores to a 94-36 record during her career, including four appearances in the NCAA Tournament and two trips to a Regional final game. She also helped lead Vanderbilt to a pair of SEC Tournament championship games, with an SEC title to her credit in 2002.

McElhiney ended her VU career as the program's all-time leader in assists with 673. She led the SEC and ranked second in the nation as a senior, handing out 7.46 assists per game. A two-time All-SEC selection, she was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and Senior CLASS Award. She also finished with 1,093 points in her Commodore career.

She won a Class A state championship as a senior at Gleason and was named All-Southeastern Conference by The Associated Press in 2001 and 2002. ESPN said she was one of the top five point guards in the country as a senior.

"I see a lot of myself in Coach Moore's teams," McElhiney said. "They're not the fastest, the biggest or the most athletic, but they have what so many young players don't have anymore ? heart.

"Coach Moore's program is a reflection of the kind of person he is on and off the court, and I'm excited to be a part of it. Like I said, his players remind me a lot of myself. I was told my whole life I was not good enough to play in the SEC."

McElhiney said her "love for the game of basketball and for coaching the game of basketball" caused her to leave Alabama for a coaching position at a smaller NCAA Division I basketball program.

"I can't wait to get there," she said. "Coach Moore is a winner, and his players are winners."

McElhiney handled all travel, film exchange and community service duties in her post with the Tide. She also served as the liasion to the marketing and promotions and game event management departments with the University of Alabama athletic department.

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