Women's Basketball Adds Two to Coaching Staff

Oct. 7, 2008

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team has made its final additions to the 2008-09 coaching staff, head coach Matt Corkery announced. Stephanie Blanton, who comes to AU from Ohio State, has been appointed as an assistant coach, while Tom Callan, out of Colorado, was named director of basketball operations.

Blanton, a four-year player for the Buckeyes from 2003-2007, spent the last year at her alma mater serving as a student-manager and will be working with primarily with post players. She assisted in running practices and aiding the coaching staff in various drills and plays. Blanton also compiled statistics, helped with recruiting paperwork and interacted with student-athletes as a mentor on a daily basis. She also was a staff member at Ohio State and Illinois Summer Camps.

As a player, Blanton was a four-year varsity letterwinner and was a part of three Big Ten Conference Championships. The team went 112-22 in her four years and made NCAA Tournament appearances each season. She was named a Third Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection as a senior and was also nominated for the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor. Blanton earned four straight scholar-athlete awards and was a Buckeye Award Winner in 2007. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the College of Allied Medical Professions.

"Stephanie's experience playing at the highest level, in both the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament, will be invaluable to our team," said AU head coach Matt Corkery. "She has exceptional knowledge of the game and is passionate about coaching, but also can closely relate to our student-athletes, being fresh out of college."

Callan has spent the majority of the last three years in women's basketball, serving as team manager for the University of Colorado and USA Basketball. A 2007 graduate of Colorado, he spent 2004-06 with the Buffaloes and assisted in all responsibilities pertaining to team operations, including attendance, game and practice preparation and summer camps. He was team manager for the women's basketball team in the World University Games in the summer of 2005 and spent time over the last year as the manager for the U-19 FIBA World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia and the FIBA Women's World League in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He was responsible for team equipment, practice logistics and video scouting, while assisting with player relations. A graduate with degrees in both international affairs and economics, Callan spent the last seven months as an investment analyst intern at Stategies LLC.

"Tom has strong organizational skills and extensive experience through his time spent at Colorado and with USA Basketball that give me great confidence that he will excel at running the operations of our program," Corkery said. "He grew up around basketball and already has a relationship with assistant coach LaTonya Watson, from their time at Colorado, so I am excited about his addition to the staff."

The Eagles, who are coming off their best season since 1998, are coming off of an 18-14 season that saw them win their first-ever Patriot League Regular Season Title and advance to the post-season WNIT for only the second time in program history. AU won a record-setting 11 straight games and went undefeated on the road in conference play for the first time. The Eagles will open up the 2008-09 season on Friday, Nov. 14 at New Jersey Institute of Technology at 7 p.m.