Mount St. Joseph athletic director Steve Radcliffe is pleased to
announce the hiring of Janel Iden as head women’s
basketball coach.
Iden comes to Mount St. Joseph after two years as an assistant coach at Earlham, a fellow Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference institution. While at Earlham, Iden helped the Quakers to a positive per game scoring margin this past season as well as the program’s most wins in a season since the 2003-04 season, reaching double figures. Additionally, Earlham finished within the top 20 percent of teams in Division III this past season in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, steals and turnover margin.
Iden assisted in bringing in the largest freshman class in Earlham’s women’s basketball history for the 2013-2014 season, totaling 12 recruits.
“It is an honor and humbling to be the head women's basketball coach at the College of Mount St. Joseph,” Iden said. “I am confident that the program at (Mount St. Joseph) is one that can be successful. The players have expressed excitement and a willingness to do what it takes in order to lay down the foundation building towards success. I'm excited to begin promoting the College of Mount St. Joseph and the basketball program.”
Prior to Earlham, Iden was an assistant women’s basketball coach at Mount Union for three seasons, helping the Raiders to an 80-11 overall record, two regular season Ohio Athletic Conference championships, three OAC tournament championships and a three NCAA Tournament appearances, twice advancing to the third round.
Radcliffe was excited about Iden joining the Lions’ coaching staff.
“Janel brings with her a background in college admissions from the University of Mount Union,’’ Radcliffe said. “It provides her a solid foundation for recruiting championship caliber players to (MSJ). Coach Iden has experience in coaching championship caliber players at Mount Union and experience in turning a program around toward achieving performance success at Earlham College.”
Iden is a 2007 graduate of Otterbein earning a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and a minor in speech communication. During her collegiate basketball career at Otterbein she was a member of the winningest team in school history. Iden was a team captain, a two-year starter and four-year letter-winner. She was among the top 10 players in the conference in 2006-07 in assists and defensive rebounds per game. Iden excelled in the classroom, as she was named a four-time Otterbein Scholar-Athlete. She was voted by her teammates and coaches for the 2006-07 Leadership Award and 2004-05 Hustle Award.
Iden holds a master's degree in higher education administration and student personnel from Kent State in 2012. Iden is also a certified sports conditioning specialist. She has attended numerous basketball clinics and workshops, related to coaching and has also worked youth camps and clinics.
The Zanesville, Ohio, native is currently living in Richmond, Ind.