June 22, 2007

AMHERST, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts Athletic Director John McCutcheon has announced the hiring of Jada Pierce as women's basketball assistant coach. Pierce brings 10 years of coaching background including the last year at Marist where she helped lead the Red Foxes to the Sweet 16. Pierce replaces Kia Damon who took a similar position at Penn State last month after spending five years on the UMass staff.

"We are very excited to bring Jada aboard," said UMass Head Coach Marnie Dacko. "She brings a great deal of coaching experience at a variety of different levels. Jada is familiar with the Massachusetts area and recruits and will be a positive asset to our program. She is a team player and our players will really benefit from her expertise."

Pierce spent last season as an assistant coach at Marist. She helped lead the Red Foxes to their best season in school history with a 29-6 record, its first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history and a Sweet Sixteen appearance. They were ranked 22nd in the final USA Today/ESPN Women's College Basketball Poll. This was the first time the program has ever been nationally ranked.

Prior to Marist, Pierce spent two seasons as head coach at Cheyney University in Pennsylvania. At the Division II school, she was responsible for recruiting a player who earned all-conference honors and had a dozen players named scholar-athletes by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Pierce served as the top assistant at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell for three seasons (2001-04) before going to Cheyney. In addition to being the recruiting coordinator, she helped in scouting and coaching the guards. The team compiled a 51-36 record in her tenure, earning an NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2003 and a spot in the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs every year.

Pierce was an assistant under Tina Martin at the University of Delaware from 1999-2001, as the team posted a 46-14 record in that two-year span and earned a berth in the 2001 NCAA tournament. From 1997-99, she was an assistant at St. Michael's College, helping the team reach the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs in 1999.

Pierce, 33, is a 1997 graduate of West Chester University. In her senior year, she started every game and was co-captain of a squad which went 22-7 and earned its first NCAA tournament berth in school history.

In 2001, Pierce became the first female to be inducted into the Central High School Athletic Honor Roll in Philadelphia. In her scholastic basketball career, Pierce was named First Team Philadelphia All-Public League in 1992 and Philadelphia Public League All-Star in 1990 and 1991. She became the school's all-time leading scorer and averaged 21 points per game as a senior. Pierce was also an all-league high jumper as a junior in her only season as a member of the track and field squad.