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Dunkenberger Named Women's Basketball Director Of Operations
Former head coach at Virginia Tech and Western Carolina joins Green Wave staff for 2011-12 season

	Beth Dunkenberger, the former head coach at Virginia Tech and Western Carolina, was named Tulane's director of women's basketball operations on Thursday.

June 30, 2011

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University women's basketball team finalized its staff for the 2011-12 season with the hiring of former Division I head coach Beth Dunkenberger as director of operations, Green Wave head coach Lisa Stockton announced Thursday.

In her new position, Dunkenberger will be responsible for coordinating film exchange, overseeing Tulane's student manager staff, serving as the liaison to the equipment operations staff, as well as working with Tulane's game operations staff and managing the Green Wave's travel on road trips.

She will also help coordinate the team's special projects with the Tulane campus and New Orleans community, and be of great assistance as the team moves into the new practice facility in the fall. Dunkenberger replaces Brian Mears, who resigned in June to attend law school.

"We are very excited to have Beth Dunkenberger join the Tulane women's basketball staff," Stockton said. "Her prior experience will be invaluable to our program. Our goal every season is to win the conference title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Beth's credentials are impeccable and we look forward to having her as a member of the Green Wave family."

Dunkenberger comes to Tulane following a seven-year stint as head women's basketball coach at Virginia Tech. With the Hokies from 2004-11, she led the team to a combined 110 wins, two trips to the NCAA Tournament and one WNIT berth. Under Dunkenberger's direction, four student-athletes earned All-Big East honors and several went on to play professionally, including Kerri Gardin - who became the first player from Virginia Tech to play in the WNBA.

Dunkenberger's head coaching stint was the second stretch with the Hokies as she was a graduate assistant at Virgina Tech from 1988-90 and then assistant coach from 1990-97. She also served as an assistant coach at the University of Florida from 1997-2000 and earned her first head coaching position at Western Carolina in 2000.

From 2000-04, the Dunkenberger-led Catamounts posted 65 victories. She was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year following the 2002-03 season when Western Carolina tallied 21 wins - the most by the team since moving to the Division I level in 1981 - and advanced to the finals of the SoCon Championship.

While her teams have performed admirably on the court, Dunkenberger's teams stood out in the classroom as well as Virginia Tech featured a trio of Academic All-Americans, 11 Academic All-District honorees, a pair of ACC postgraduate scholarship recipients.

"I'm extremely excited to join the staff at Tulane and have the opportunity to work with Coach Stockton and her assistant coaches," Dunkenberger said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the program she's built at Tulane and look forward to helping the team win conference championships."

Dunkenberger was a standout student-athlete in her own right, lettering in women's basketball at Randolph-Macon College from 1984-88 when she claimed all-conference and Academic All-District recognition. A graduate of Shawsville High School, she graduated cum laude from Randoph-Macon with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1988 and completed her master's degree in education from Virginia Tech in 1990.