Division I Mount St. Mary's has named Bryan Whitten the new head women's basketball coach. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Whitten, who was 220-103 as head coach at King's, had been an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth.
“Bryan Whitten brings his success story to the Mount which includes a proven track record from his time at both King's College and Virginia Commonwealth University,” said Mount St. Mary's president Thomas H. Powell. “We couldn't be happier to be adding Bryan to our Mount athletic family.”
Whitten inherits a team that returns two starters and three letterwinners from a team that went 12-17 overall last season and 10-8 in NEC play, finishing tied for fourth in the league.
Whitten comes to Emmitsburg after serving as a women's basketball assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth for the last two seasons. In his two-year tenure at Virginia Commonwealth, Whitten coached the 2005-06 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year and helped the Rams to a 30-28 record, including a 17-13 mark while the team advanced to the CAA quarterfinals in 2006-07.
"I am very honored and excited to be the new women's basketball coach at Mount St. Mary's University,” said Whitten. “There is a strong tradition of success here and I look forward to the opportunity of continuing and building on that tradition. I would like to thank president Powell, vice president Dan Soller, and athletic director Lynne Robinson for their confidence and for this great opportunity. I've met with the team and they are all pretty enthusiastic about the upcoming season. I'm really looking forward to being their coach. We are all anxious and excited to get things started and about the future of Mount St. Mary's basketball!”
Prior to his time in Richmond, Whitten was the head women's basketball coach at King's. He spent 12 seasons at the helm of the Lady Monarchs, amassing a 220-103 record and guided the team to 10 consecutive winning seasons, two MAC Freedom Conference titles and four trips to the Division III NCAA Tournament from 2000-03.
“The journey to being a Division I head coach has been long and there are many people who have helped me get to this point,” said Whitten. “I'd like to thank the late John Dorish, who was the AD at King's College and gave me my first opportunity to be a college head coach, and the entire King's community for the their continual support; Beth Cunningham, the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth, who gave me the opportunity to become a Division I coach, and Mike Brey, head coach at Notre Dame, for his consistent advice and support. I'd also like to thank my former players at King's College whose loyalty, support, friendship and love have continued to inspire me. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank my family, especially my parents and my wife Angie, for their never ending confidence, guidance, support and love."