| La Roche celebrated five conference titles in five seasons during Gissendanner's first tenure as head coach. La Roche athletics photo |
After spending one season as an assistant at Division I La Salle, Kamela Gissendanner has returned to the head coaching position at La Roche where she led the Redhawks to five straight AMCC titles.
"There is no place like home," Gissendanner said in the school's release. "It is truly a blessing to be back where my head coaching career started. The people. The College. The tradition. There is no place I would rather be and can't wait to get started and compete for more championships!"
Gissendanner led La Roche to a 116-23 record in five seasons, including five AMCC titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. The Redhawks went 85-5 in conference during that stretch. Shortly before the 2017-18 season began, Gissendanner stepped down to accept an assistant coaching position at Division I La Salle under Jeff Williams whose contract was not renewed.
Samuel Salih, who was Gissendanner's assistant for three years before her depature, led La Roche on an interim basis last season. La Roche finished 11-15 and had its run of seven consecutive AMCC titles snapped. According to the college's staff listing, Salih will return to his assistant position.
A native of nearby Clairton, Pa., Gissendanner played three seasons at Division I Penn State, spent part of the 2008 season with the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks and played internationally in Norway and Slovakia.
"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Kam back home," said athletic director Jim Tinkey in the school's release. "We were blessed to have had her for the time that we did prior to her leaving last season. It was an incredible opportunity this past spring when coach and I started talking about her coming back to La Roche College. We're all excited for her return at the end of the summer and already looking forward to next November."