POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Marist head women's basketball coach Brian Giorgis announced the hiring of Alisa Kresge as an assistant coach on Thursday. Kresge played point guard for the Red Foxes from 2003-07, and is the program's all-time leader in assists with 596. She helped lead Marist to the first Sweet 16 appearance by a men's or women's basketball program in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) history in 2007.
For the past two years, Kresge has worked for the MAAC as Director of
Women's Basketball Operations. She served as Tournament Director of the
2009 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Sweet 16 Regional at Sovereign
Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J. Her day-to-day responsibilities at the MAAC
included the creation of the conference's schedule and the coordination
of its broadcast schedule. This past year, she was the coordinator and
key contributor for the conference's successful NCAA Grant application.
In 2007 and 2008, Kresge was the coordinator of the ESPN Old Spice
Classic, an annual eight-team exempted men's basketball tournament held
in Orlando, Fla.
In her new position, Kresge will work along with Associate Head Coach Megan Gebbia with the team's guards, and will be involved with recruiting and daily administration of the program, including alumni relations, the Junior Hoop Club and Marist Girls' Basketball Camp.
"It's great to have Alisa back in the family," Giorgis said. "This is something she's had the passion to do. She has one of the best basketball minds of anyone I've ever coached, and I think she'll bring a lot to the program."
Kresge was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year in each of her final three years at Marist, sharing the award in the 2004-05 season and winning it outright in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. In addition to being the program's all-time leader in assists, Kresge is second all-time in steals with 222. She was also the program's all-time leader in games played at the time of her graduation. She became a starter halfway through the 2003-04 season, and helped lead the Red Foxes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance that season. In Kresge's four years at Marist, the Red Foxes won 94 and earned their first three NCAA Tournament berths in program history.
Kresge will assume the third assistant position on Coach Giorgis' staff. Erin Leger , who served as the third assistant for the past four seasons, has been promoted to the number two assistant spot. That position became open when Keila Whittington, who served as the number two assistant from 2007-09, departed to became an assistant coach at the University of Oregon.
Kresge is a native of Holmdel, N.J.