Athletic director Michael Spinner has announced the hiring of JR
Fredette as the new head coach of the Albertus Magnus women's
basketball team.
Fredette replaces Steven Schuler, who went 14-12 in his lone season at the helm.
"When we started our search for a new head coach, I wanted somebody who would be able to dive into the position, and really put their stamp on a women's basketball program that made enormous strides a year ago. With the hiring of JR Fredette, I think we did just that," Spinner said. "When we began the search process, above all, I was hoping we could attract a candidate who would make us all really excited to begin basketball season this year. I think we found that person in JR Fredette.
"He is really going to mesh well with our athletic program, and I think his enthusiasm and vision for this program is going to allow us to continue on the right track we achieved a year ago. We're a better program today with JR Fredette as our head coach, and I am very excited to welcome him aboard."
Fredette recently served as an assistant coach at Christian Heritage School, a high school in Trumbull, Conn., where he helped guide his team to the 2010-11 Division II Christian National Championship title.
Prior to coaching at Christian Heritage, Fredette served as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic from 2008 to 2010 after serving as the top assistant at Post in Waterbury, Conn. since 2004.
Fredette was essential in building Post into one of the top NCAA Division II programs in its region, recruiting and developing four 1,000-point scorers and four All-Eastern College Athletic Conference players during his four-year tenure with the Eagles.
Fredette helped guide Post to the ECAC regular season title in 2007, while the team earned the school's first-ever NCAA Division II regional ranking. In 2008, Post captured the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) North Division championship and advanced into the ECAC Division II tournament final.
His basketball coaching experience includes working as a coach and site director for The Hoop Group and the Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic, where he managed and instructed high school players, while teaching the physical and mental aspects of the game.
With a background in education, Fredette began his professional career in 2003 as a teacher in Bridgeport, Conn. and spent three years as the head golf coach at Bridgeport's Warren G. Harding High School. Additionally, Fredette took on the role of head men's and women's tennis coach at Post in 2007-08.
Fredette played three years of varsity basketball at fellow GNAC member Mount Ida in Newton, Mass., where he earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts.