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Drury University, Springfield Missouri, has named Steve Harold, the NCAA Division II National
Coach of the Year last season at Glenville State, as the new head coach
of the Lady Panthers' basketball program, school officials announced
Friday.
Harold, 42, had a 262-107 record in 12 seasons at Glenville State
College in Glenville, West Virginia. That includes a 33-3 mark - the
best mark in school history - and an NCAA-II Elite Eight appearance this
past season, when the Lady Pioneers fell to UC San Diego in the
quarterfinals to complete their sixth straight NCAA Tournament trip.
Harold's Lady Pioneers were a combined 63-6 the last two seasons and
have posted 20 wins or more in each of the past eight seasons, winning
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 2002,
2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 to go with three WVIAC tournament titles.
Harold will begin his duties immediately with the Lady Panthers, who
finished 25-9 last season and also advanced to the NCAA-II Elite Eight.
"In this business, Drury is the premiere job in the country in my
opinion," Harold said Friday. "It's a wonderful opportunity. I couldn't
be more excited about coming to Drury and getting the chance to work
with a wonderful group of girls.
"On my (interview) visit there, it just felt right with all the great
people there ... and I just have a tremendous amount of respect for Dr.
(Edsel) Matthews. I knew after Monday night's visit, Drury is where I
wanted to be."
Harold replaces Nyla Milleson, who resigned after posting a 185-36
record in seven seasons at DU to accept the head coaching position at
NCAA Division I Missouri State.
Harold said he and Milleson had become coaching friends of the years
through their work on several national committees with the Women's
Basketball Coaches Association.
"I have tremendous respect for Nyla Milleson and what she's done to
build the program at Drury," Harold said. "I understand the standard she
has set, and I hope to continue what she's done and maybe elevate the
program even more."
Drury athletic director Dr. Edsel Matthews said Harold was chosen from a
group of applicants that exceeded 50 in number.
"We believe Steve Harold is the perfect choice to carry on and build
upon the great tradition that has become Lady Panthers basketball,"
Matthews said.
"We had a tremendous field of applicants from a variety
of levels to choose from. But Steve's combination of experience and
success at the Division II level, his personality, and his passion for
developing a winning program set him apart from the rest.
"He had a great visit with our girls when he was here and really bonded
with the Drury community."
In addition to NCAA-II East Region titles won in 2002 and 2007, Harold's
Glenville State squad was a regional runner-up in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
His '01-02 squad finished 29-4 and reached the D-II national semifinals
for the first time in school history. The Lady Pioneers also have
finished no worse than No. 14 in the final USA Today/ESPN WBCA NCAA II
national poll in five of the past six seasons, coming in at No. 6 in
2006-07.
Harold's Lady Pioneer teams also finished annually among the WVIAC's
best in overall grade point average. He also served as athletic director
at Glenville State, his alma mater.
Harold resigned both positions last
week, citing his belief that the time had come for a new challenge.
"This has been home ... I grew up here, and it's been a wonderful
experience for me," Harold said. "I can't say enough about Glenville and
the opportunity it afforded me. We had tremendous success, but like
anything, I look at this as an opportunity to further my career."
Among his many accomplishments, his Lady Pioneers put together a 64-game
home winning streak from 1999-2004, third longest in D-II history.
Harold also has had 31 players named to all-conference teams and has
coached four NCAA-II All-America selections.
In addition to claiming the WBCA's national Coach of the Year honor this
past season, he's been the East Region Coach of the Year the past two
years and the WVIAC Coach of the Year three times.
He regularly serves
as a guest speaker at several local, regional and national coaching
conventions and clinics, his past topics at recent WBCA national
conventions ranging from "Controlling Parental Involvement In Your
Basketball Program" to "Scouting From Video Tape" to "Developing The
Post Player."
Harold describes his preferred style of play as "a motion offense with a
plethora of set plays, a lot of screens, and we like to play up-tempo
offensively. Defensively, we'll play a real aggressive, in-your-face,
man-to-man defense."
The Glenville native received his Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education
and Business Education in 1987 from Glenville State and his Masters of
Science Degree in Physical Education and Health from Radford University
in 1990.
He began his coaching career as an assistant to the men's basketball
team at GSC before moving to the women's side as an assistant in 1993.
He was promoted to head women's basketball coach in March of 1995.
Harold also spent three years as the men's track and field coach at
Glenville State, reviving the program to win three league titles (1992,
1993 and 1995) and earning the conference coach of the year distinction
each time.
Harold and wife Renee have two daughters - 14-year-old Katie and
nine-year-old Allie. He said the family will move to the Springfield
area at the conclusion of their school year in Glenville, W. Va.
Meanwhile, Harold said he was seeking avenues to get to the Drury campus
immediately and go to work on building his first Lady Panthers' squad
and preparing for summer camps afterward.
"At Glenville, we talked about wanting to compete for national
championships," Harold said. "I believe at Drury, if you do your job
right, you'll have that opportunity each and every year."
Harold will inherit a Lady Panther squad that lost just one senior off
the Elite Eight qualifier, but also has dropped two more players since
the end of the season.
Sophomore forward Lauren Gregory made a decision a few weeks ago to
transfer, and sophomore guard Greta Wiersch will effectively retire from
college basketball after numerous injuries over the course of her career
have made it difficult to continue without risking further physical damage.
Harold plans to be in attendance at the Lady Panthers' Basketball
Banquet, set for May 6 at the Findlay Student Center on the DU campus.
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