| Kate Vlahakis will be the
third person in the past four months to be head women's basketball
coach at Manhattanville. Framingham State athletics photo |
After five years as an assistant coach, Kate Vlahakis will have the opportunity to lead her own program beginning this season as she was named the new head coach of the Manhattanville women's basketball team, athletic director Keith Levinthal announced.
Vlahakis takes over for Josh Suttles, who was forced to resign unexpectedly due to a family emergency in mid-August.
She replaces Lauren Thomer, who coached the Valiants to a 9-15 record last season and took an assistant coaching position at Division I Yale.
“I am extremely humbled and grateful for the chance to
lead the Manhattanville women's basketball team,” Vlahakis
said. “I wanted to thank Keith and the athletic department
for this amazing opportunity to start my head coaching career at a
place like Manhattanville. I knew from the moment I stepped onto
campus this was a special place that promoted what it is to be a
student-athlete of the highest caliber. I am excited to get in the
gym with the girls and define the culture of this program, which
will be built on hard work, consistency and heart. Our goal is to
be consistent contenders in the Freedom Conference and to hang a
banner in Kennedy Gymnasium.”
“We're very excited to have Kate on board as our next
women's basketball coach,” Levinthal said. “We are
incredibly lucky to get a head coach of such high caliber on such
short notice. During our search process, we recognized that Kate
was a tremendous coach with a bright future, and we are fortunate
that she will be beginning her head coaching career with
us.”
Vlahakis comes to Manhattanville after a two-year stint at
Framingham State, where she served as an assistant coach under
Patricia O'Brien and played a vital role in all aspects of the
Division III program. As coach with the Rams, she helped the
program to a MASCAC tournament appearance in her second season and
also mentored the reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Year as well as a
second-team all-conference performer.
Prior to her time in Framingham, Vlahakis served three seasons as
an assistant coach at Simmons. While in Boston, the Sharks posted a
combined 44-29 record in three years and earned a spot in the GNAC
tournament in all three seasons.
A native of Lebanon, N.H., Vlahakis was a four-year member of the
women's basketball team at Division III St. Lawrence, graduating in
2007 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. In her time in Canton,
the Saints made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and were
nationally ranked in all four years, while she individually was
named the team's Most Improved Player in 2003.
She also earned her master's degree in business with a
specialization in athletic administration from Southern New
Hampshire in 2012.
Vlahakis and the women's basketball team will kick off the 2012-13
season on November 16, when the Valiants travel to Boston for the
first of two weekend games at the UMass Boston Tip-Off Tournament.
Manhattanville will return home for the first time the following
Tuesday, when the squad welcomes neighboring Purchase to Kennedy
Gym for a 6 p.m. meeting.