SU names athletic leaders
Shepherd University director of athletics B.J. Pumroy announced today that Melanie Ford has been named assistant director of athletics and that Antoinette ‘Toni’ West has been named head women’s basketball coach. The effective date of the move will be July 1, 2013.
Ford will oversee NCAA, Mountain East Conference, and Federal compliance issues as well as assist in other administrative duties within the 12-sport NCAA Division II athletic department.
Ford leaves behind a coaching legacy having served the women?s basketball program for the past 11 seasons including the past four as head coach. She directed the Rams to a 20-win season in 2011-12 and had a career record of 66-50 and a 53-35 mark in conference action. Her teams advanced to the WVIAC semifinals twice and won their first round tournament game all four years. Over Ford’s tenure as Shepherd’s top assistant coach the Rams recorded a 116-88 overall mark — highlighted by a recorded-setting 24-7 record in 2007-08. That season the Rams captured the WVIAC title and advanced to the NCAA II Sweet 16 in the program’s first-ever postseason appearance. The Rams posted five winning seasons over that seven-year period and also had five seasons with 15 wins or more. Ford has served the past two seasons on the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Regional Advisory Committee.
During her tenure as head coach the team captured the Rams’ Cup twice since its 2010-11 inception showing involvement throughout the department and community. She had been tabbed for assisting the entire department on projects including moving from waiver to dollar based financial aid as well as developing streaming and other technology capabilities.
Off the court during her 11-year tenure the team also excelled in the classroom and in the community. The team was recognized four times as a top 15 program by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for having a high cumulative grade point average. They had four WVIAC Female Senior Scholar Athlete Award Winners. The WVIAC also awarded the team the Red Hartman Award (Sportsmanship) twice during her coaching tenure.
“Coach Ford has the respect of the peers in the department, the campus community and the coaches she has been competing against. Her abilities to lead have been quite evident and I feel fortunate that she will be assisting in the administration of the entire department,” said Pumroy.
West takes over the head coaching reins after returning to the Shepherd coaching staff last season for her second stint as an assistant coach.
West has head coaching experience at two other institutions. She was head coach as California State University East Bay from 2008-10 as the school transitioned from NAIA to NCAA II status. She was also head coach as Las Positas College in 2006 and led the team to a 20-win season and a berth in the California Junior College playoffs in the program’s first season.
Her extensive coaching background includes stints as an assistant at NCAA Division II schools San Francisco State University and Dominican University (CA) as well as California Junior Colleges, San Joaquin Delta College and DeAnza College.
West earned her bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University and has a master’s degree from St. Mary’s College of California. She is an NCAA Women’s Coaches Academy graduate and also attended the NCAA Division II Leadership Academy.
West is the advisor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) group at Shepherd and recently participated in the 2013 BCA Achieving Excellence program.
“Our women’s basketball program has been one of our department’s most successful over the years,” said Pumroy. “I expect the program not only to achieve to our expectations, but to grow them as well under Coach West’s guidance as we move into the Mountain East Conference.”