HobbsDailyReport.com
Former LRU player Cameron Sealey has accepted the head women’s basketball coaching job at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
HICKORY – Lenoir-Rhyne University has hired Cameron Sealey — an assistant basketball coach at Wofford and a former Bears player — as its new women’s head coach.
LRU officials announced the hiring before mid-day on Tuesday, making Sealey the 12th women’s basketball coach in school history.
A press conference and meet-and-greet session is scheduled Thursday at 4 p.m. in the PEF Board Room Shuford Gym. The meeting is open to the public.
Sealey replaces Kate Pate, who left the program in early March after three seasons. Her teams went 41-43 (12-16, 12-15, 17-12) and did not advance to the NCAA Division II playoffs after she replaced Todd Starkey, now women’s head coach at Kent State. His teams won 165 games over nine seasons.
“We have a very special and unique opportunity to hire one of the top up-and-coming coaches in women’s college basketball who also happens to be one of Lenoir-Rhyne’s most accomplished players,” LRU Director of Athletics Kim Pate said in a news release. “Coach Sealey brings tremendous passion and pride for our university and will immediately ignite excitement in our players, recruits, and alumni to restore a tradition of excellence that will return the program to national prominence.”
Sealey comes to LRU after one year as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Wofford, where the women’s team produced the second-most wins since the 2000-01 season. Sealey helped develop Chloe Wanink into a second-team All-Southern Conference player.
Prior to Wofford, Sealey was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Georgia State (2015-16) for one season. While there, she recruited last year’s Sun Belt Freshman Of The Year (Jada Lewis) and coached the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2015-16 (Madison Newby).
“I am honored to return to my alma mater to teach and learn from these special student-athletes,” Sealey said in the news release. “It is an exciting time for (LRU) women’s basketball and I cannot wait to get started on our team’s journey as we grow together.
“I also would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Fred K. Whitt (LRU President), Kim Pate and their team for trusting me with this opportunity.”
Sealey’s last experience at the NCAA Division II level came at USC Aiken, where she served as an assistant coach for two seasons (2013-15). She helped lead the team to a third-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference and a berth in the league tournament semifinals in 2014-15.
Sealey began her coaching career at Pittsburgh-Johnstown (2012-13). She guided both Kaitlynn Fratz (All-WVIAC first-team) and Jasmine Harper (WVIAC Freshman Of The Year).
Sealey earned her bachelor’s degree from LRU in 2012 in business administration before obtaining her master’s from Concordia University Irvine in 2016 in coaching and athletic administration.
Sealey played four years at LRU (2008-12), leaving as one of the best players in recent history. She was All-SAC three times, including first-team in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and she led the Bears to two NCAA Division II playoff berths (2009 and 2010). As a senior, she was selected to an all-region team.
Sealey ranks sixth in scoring (1,493 points), second in free throw percentage (.796) and 10th in assists (267) on LRU’s all-time lists and was part of two SAC regular season championship teams (2008-09 and 2009-10) and a 2009 league tournament title team.
As a freshman in 2008-09, the Bears went 27-5 and played host to an NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament.
“I am extremely blessed and humbled to be named the next Lenoir-Rhyne head women’s basketball coach,” Sealey said in the news release. “I would be remiss if I did not recognize former LR head coaches Todd Starkey and Katie Pate for bringing the program to regional and national prominence.”
A native of Gastonia, Sealey starred at East Gaston High, where she still holds the school record for points scored (1,500) and assists (450), and she played in the prestigious North Carolina Coaches Association (NCCA) East-West all-star game.
LRU had its first winning season in three years in 2016-17, finishing 17-12 overall with a 13-9 record in the SAC.
Brad Mangum, an assistant for the Bears who joined the staff after stints as head coach at Fred T. Foard and Alexander Central, has been in charge of the LRU women’s program since Kate Pate exited.
LRU began its women’s basketball program in 1975-76.
–Reported by LRU Sports Information