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Reigning Big East Coach of the Year Anthony Bozzella announced earlier this week that Christian Stefanopoulos will bring her coaching experience to Seton Hall as an assistant coach of the women’s basketball team.
The appointment of Stefanopoulos comes after prior assistant coach Stephanie Oliver stepped down from the position to take over as Head Coach of LIU Brooklyn.
"I am honored to become a part of the Seton Hall women's basketball program and to have the opportunity to work and learn under Coach Bozzella," Stefanopoulos told Seton Hall Athletics. "I am looking forward to being a part of a program that is building something special as a family."
A Kentucky native, Stefanopoulos spent this past season as the assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Kentucky, a team that advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. She was also the video coordinator at Kentucky from 2007-2010.
Her other coaching experience includes serving as the assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Bucknell University. In her first year at Bucknell, she helped guide the team to their biggest turnaround in program history. The Bison came back from just five wins in 2011-12 to taking 15 victories in 2012-13. In her second season, she helped the Bison receive a bid to the Women's Basketball Invitational, Bucknell’s first postseason appearance since 2007-08.
Before coaching at Bucknell, Stefanopoulos was the assistant coach for two seasons at Morehead State. The Eagles accumulated a 31-29 overall record during those two seasons, as well as a 20-14 record in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Stefanopoulos played at the collegiate level at Austin Peay University and Thomas More College. With Austin Peay, she won OVC championships in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons as well as back-to-back berths in the NCAA tournament. For her final two years of eligibility, she transferred to Thomas More where she quickly made her mark on the team. During her senior season, she earned the title of team captain while leading the Saints to the 2005-06 Presidents' Athletic Conference Co-Champions title.
Bozzella also announced this week that 2015 graduate Chizoba Ekedigwe will be joining the coaching staff as a graduate assistant for the upcoming season. Ekedigwe was a large contributor to the Pirate’s monumental success this past season, appearing in all 34 games as well as starting at center a career-high 19 times.
Stefanopoulos and Ekedigwe now join a staff of coaches and players still hot from one of the most successful seasons in program history. The Pirates won a school-record 28 games, took home the Big East regular season championship and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament, the team's first tournament appearance since 1995.
Olivia Mulvihill can be reached at olivia.mulvihill@student.shu.edu or on twitter @OliviaMulvihill
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