Meet Shauna Green, the Newest Flyer Head Coach
By: Steve Boltri – Staff Writer
Former University of Dayton women’s recruiting coordinator, Shauna Green, has been named the new head coach of the Flyers women’s basketball team.
This news came after former head coach, Jim Jabir, unexpectedly stepped down for personal reasons on Sept. 7. Jabir was the most successful coach in the modern era of UD women’s basketball in his thirteen seasons in charge of the team.
Green was a part of the Flyers’ basketball program from 2012-2015 before taking a job as an assistant on the coaching staff for the Northwestern University women’s basketball team. Despite leaving for a year, Green has already been and will continue to be welcomed back to Dayton with open arms.
President Eric Spina commented, “I am delighted to welcome Shauna back to the University. She has tremendous affinity for our university and is superbly prepared to lead this important program.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 14, Green was formally introduced at a press conference at the Donoher Center.
Neil Sullivan, vice president and director of athletics at the University of Dayton told a story about how it was revealed to the team that Green was the new head coach.
According to Sullivan, senior guard Christy Macioce spotted Green in the hallway prior to the formal team meeting. “From that point on, the entire team rushed to the hallway, tackled [Green], at one point she said ‘I think you’re hurting me’,” said Sullivan. “There were hugs and tears, and a lot of emotion, and we introduced Shauna to her team in the hallway of the Cronin Center.”
That shows just how much Green means to the women of the team and how much faith they have in her ability to lead them in the seasons to come. She has truly been welcomed back into the Dayton community with love and excitement.
Green accepted her new role with humility and optimism, and in her own words, she “can’t wait to get started.” She expressed a desire to continue the great tradition that Jabir established at UD but talked about how she wants to take that to another level.
She wants to continue in Jabir’s winning ways, but wants to achieve her goals in her own ways. These goals will be achieved, starting with the values that she’s bringing in with her and plan to instill on her team and the program as a whole.
Green said many of her ideologies as a person and a leader come from her parents. “If you treat people the right way and treat them like you want to be treated and you work hard, good things are usually going to happen,” she added. “ And [those are] the values I believe in and [the values] that our program is going to believe in. That’s going to be the core of us and who we are.” The goal is that these seemingly simple values will help to foster a sense of community and hard work between the players, coaches, and everyone involved in the organization.
Culture was a big talking point for Green in her introductory speech. Specifically, she talked about how the success of the team will stem from the culture that is created within the organization.
“The culture here is already great,” Green said. “ And I’m going to continue and our staff is going to continue to cultivate that and make it even better.”
As an example of what this culture means to Green, she told a story about when she first arrived in Dayton before accepting the job, and the women of the team were working out together. Despite not even having a coach at time time, they were working by their own free will because they believe in that culture of community and excellence.
As for moving forward, Green said that the goals of the team don’t change just because the coach has changed. The most prominent goals will always be to win Atlantic 10 championships, make the NCAA tournament and make deep tournament runs.
“Every time we go on the floor, I can guarantee you one thing: we’re gonna play together and we’re gonna play as hard as we possibly can,” Green said, promoting a culture of hard work within the team.
It is very clear what Green stands for, what she believes in, and how she plans to lead the University of Dayton women’s basketball program in the years to come. After signing a multi-year contract, the program is in her hands for the foreseeable future. Green is passionate about the Dayton community and plans to do everything in her power to continue the team’s success.