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| UW-River Falls athletics photo |
Blake DuDonis has stepped down as UW-River Falls head women's basketball coach, as announced Friday, April 15 by athletic director Crystal Lanning.
DuDonis will pursue another coaching opportunity. His wife, Carly Thibault-DuDonis, was recently named head coach at Division I Fairfield, in Connecticut. She had been an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, not far from the River Falls campus.
"Being the head women's basketball coach at UWRF has been one of the greatest honors and joys of my life," said DuDonis. "I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. I cannot thank Crystal Lanning, Kellen Wells-Mangold, Charlie Sowa, Steve Stocker, and the entire UWRF athletics department enough for the support that they have given us during my time here. In everything I do in life, I try to leave whatever I touch better than I found it. I walk away from this program with my head held high knowing I did that here. While I am excited for the newest chapter of my career, I leave UWRF with great fondness and will miss it greatly."
DuDonis was hired in May 2019. Recently completing his third season at the helm of the Falcon women's basketball program in 2021-22, DuDonis led UWRF to its most WIAC wins since 2018-19, the first WIAC Tournament win since 2016-17, and the most overall wins since 2017-18 despite playing the 30th toughest schedule in the country. The team also broke the program record for most made 3-pointers in a season, totaling 206, which was also the fourth highest mark in WIAC history.
UW-River Falls was 12-13 this past season, 17-40 in three seasons under DuDonis.
"I would like to thank Coach DuDonis for his commitment to Falcon athletics over the past three years," Lanning said. "He has elevated the profile and competitiveness of the women's basketball program and has laid the foundation for future success. I wish him all the best as he pursues a new professional opportunity."
Shelby Lyman, the associate head coach under DuDonis, will serve as the interim head coach for the upcoming 2022-23 season.