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The Gophers announced that Marlene Stollings was named the new Gopher Women's basketball coach on Monday replacing the fired Pam Borton. Stollings will be the 11th head coach in the history of the Gopher Women's program. Stollings comes to Minnesota from VCU after coaching the Rams for the last two seasons. She is well known to Norwood Teague and Associate Gopher AD Mike Ellis through their Villa 7 Coaching Program.
"I am extremely proud to be named the head coach at the University of Minnesota. I want to thank President Eric Kaler and Director of Athletics Norwood Teague for believing in my vision for the future of this storied program and for giving me this opportunity. Minnesota has great tradition and I cannot wait to be part of it. I am looking forward to meeting the team and great fans of Gopher basketball." -Marlene Stollings
Stollings lead the Rams to a 22-10 record and a berth in the Women's NIT last season, a turnaround from a 11-19 record in her first season in Richmond. Prior to her VCU job, she was the head coach of Winthrop for one season in 2011-2012 where they posted only their second winning season in 26 years.
Prior to being a head coach, Stollings was a top assistant for many schools including four years at Mississippi where she was lauded for her recruiting. In 2009 she helped sign Mississippi's best recruting class in nearly 30 years. She also recruited a 36th ranked class nationally to VCU after being hired, which was the third best non-BCS class in the nation.
Norwood Teague in a statement said, "Marlene Stollings is one of the most respected young coaches in the country and we are thrilled to have her leading the Minnesota women’s basketball program. Her up-tempo style, ability to recruit the nation’s best talent and successful track record are undeniable. I am excited for our student-athletes and fans, as Marlene will bring an energetic style of basketball to Williams Arena."
Stollings is known for her uptempo and exciting style of game play. In 2013-14, VCU’s offensive production surged and set school records with a 75.8 points-per-game average and 235 three-point field goals. The Rams scored 90 or more points on five occasions and twice notched a school-record 112 points during the year. At Winthrop in 2011-2012 her team averaged a program-record 69.6 points per game, ranked 10th nationally with an average of 7.6 three-point field goals per game and posted 80 or more points a school-record nine times.
Stollings also has familiarity with the Big Ten as she played two seasons for Ohio State before transferring to Ohio for her last two seasons. She will have a loaded Gopher team to work with as Rachel Banham and company will return to attempt to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.