http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/04/17/foley-takes-to-admin/
(April 17, 2012)
Kristen Foley adapts after switch to administrator.
Many college coaches develop a love for the game they teach at a young age. They played their sport as children, then in high school and maybe in college or professionally.
Then one way or another, they become a coach as a way to stay connected to their passion. But when the time comes to stop coaching it’s not easy, unless leaving isn’t so much leaving as transitioning.
That’s exactly what former women’s basketball coach and current Senior Women’s Administrator Kristen Foley did.
“I wasn’t as successful as I wanted to be as a coach,” Foley said.
Foley coached Temple from 1995 to 2000, posting a 45-93 record. In 2000, Temple and Foley mutually agreed to part ways but she was brought back shortly after as an administrator. Now she’s one of two remaining members of former Athletic Director Dave O’Brien’s staff, and took an uncommon path – a former coach turned administrator.
“This is more of a profession, it’s more of a skill set that isn’t necessarily related to having been a head coach or an assistant coach [anymore],” Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw, who arrived in 2002, said.
Foley’s departure from coaching meant the arrival of former coach Dawn Staley, the program’s all-time winningest coach.
“The move to [Staley] was just a no-brainer,” Foley said. “The opportunity to bring a big name, an Olympic medalist, just a great player and somebody who had been in the WNBA, just really was an opportunity to bring the program to another level.”
It’s rare that a current coach works with an administrator who was the previous coach. Staley had never coached before and Foley was fresh out of the locker room. Foley helped Staley with things from player management to budgeting. The two worked well together, and the Owls eventually captured three consecutive Atlantic Ten Conference championships.
“[Foley] knows what it is for the coaches, what they have to experience, the NCAA rules, budgets, the interactions with student athletes, with parents,” Bradshaw said.
When Staley left for South Carolina in 2008, Foley led the recruiting committee that hired Tonya Cardoza, since led the Owls to NCAA Second Round appearances in 2010 and 2011.
Foley currently oversees Temple’s women’s sports. She calls herself an “assistant coach” to the coaches and Bradshaw, helping them with whatever they need.
While Bradshaw called Foley “invaluable,” she remains humble.
“You don’t bring [Staley and Cardoza] along at all,” she said. “I kind of go along with them. It’s more of a supportive role and you kind of hang on their coattails.”
She’s helped coordinate multiple Atlantic Ten Conference tournaments, NCAA Regional championships, and was a member of the NCAA basketball rules committee and fencing committee.
“I love the coaches here, I love what we’re doing, I love working for [Bradshaw],” Foley said. “You can’t say enough about where we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going to be.”
Several years ago, Foley was given the opportunity for radio broadcast of women’s basketball and studied ESPN’s Doris Burke, Debbie Antonelli and other women’s basketball sportscasters. At the Owls’ home games Foley provides the color commentator for web streams.
“That’s why I love doing the web stream. You get to put that ‘coaching hat’ back on and you get to do the strategy,” Foley said.
Foley said she does miss some aspects of coaching, however.
“Obviously you miss the interaction with the kids, and planning out the practices, and how you’re going to beat a team,” she said. “I always enjoyed that piece of it.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
Apr 17, 2012
TTN: McCarthy goes undrafted, hopes to keep playing
http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/04/17/mccarthy-goes-undrafted-hopes-to-keep-playing/
(April 17, 2012)
Kristen McCarthy hopes to continue her basketball career.
(April 17, 2012)
Senior guard Kristen McCarthy sat at home in La Puenta, Calif. with family waiting to hear those words. But they never came.
McCarthy watched the Women’s National Basketball Association’s 2012 draft expecting to hear her name called, but never did.
“I’ll just continue to work out, hopefully get a training camp invite,” McCarthy said. “I feel that all I need is the chance […] Basketball is my dream.”
McCarthy now must entertain the options of a WNBA training camp invite, heading to Europe to play professionally or moving on to coaching.
In her four years McCarthy established herself as “one of the best players to ever play here at Temple, if not the best besides Candice Dupree, obviously,” said senior guard Shey Peddy, who was selected 23rd overall by the Chicago Sky at the WNBA Draft.
McCarthy averaged 12.4 points in 131 games, grabbed 713 rebounds (9th all-time), recorded 209 steals (8th all-time) and is in the Top 10 in several other categories. She also owns the top single-game scoring record with 42 points against Charlotte two years ago.
“She never takes a day off,” Peddy said. “She comes to practice, weight room, whatever it is, she gives 110 percent. And it’s rare to find. I know sometimes I take plays off.”
But what brought the self-described “Cali girl” all the way out to the East Coast for four years, with its snowy winters and lack of her favorite Mexican food?
“I just wanted to come to the East Coast and just experience something different,” McCarthy said. “Something just changed in me [sophomore year of high school], I don’t know what.”
While she adjusted well on the floor – fourth in school history in scoring with 1,619 points – she never quite got the hang of Philadelphia.
“She always complains about how it’s 80 degrees back at home,” Peddy said, making fun of her teammate. “If you want to come to the East Coast this is what you get over here.”
Thankfully for the Owls basketball isn’t played outdoors.
McCarthy is the second of five children, and the only one playing college sports. McCarthy began dribbling a ball when she was 5 years old, and quickly developed into a playmaker. When the time came she looked at the University of California, Rutgers and Temple. She chose Temple because of former coach Dawn Staley.
But when Staley left for South Carolina and Tonya Cardoza was hired a few months before McCarthy’s arrival McCarthy decided to ask for her release from Temple. Cardoza was unavailable for comment.
“[Cardoza] had said one reason why she didn’t release is because I took the time to come all the way out here,” McCarthy said. “And she said she saw how I was interacting with the teammates and stuff and she just felt in her heart that I liked it here.”
McCarthy fit in immediately, averaging 8.6 points per game on her way to the Atlantic Ten Conference All-Rookie Team and Big 5 Rookie of the Year in her first season.
McCarthy missed her family, but quickly made Philadelphia her second home and decided against transferring after her freshman year.
“I just really enjoyed everything,” McCarthy said. “I think how I am, anyway, I’m going to enjoy anywhere that I am. But I was just comfortable.”
Her junior year McCarthy teamed with Wright State transfer Peddy, becoming one of the most dangerous duos in the conference.
“She made my transition coming here a lot smoother,” Peddy said.
The pair averaged a combined 25.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in their first season together, as the Owls lost in the A-10 semifinals.
“She’s not cocky at all, I think that’s what separates her from everybody,” Peddy said. “[McCarthy] is good, everybody knows she’s good, but she still works as if she’s the worst player on the team.”
While Peddy averaged 17.6 points per game on her way to A-10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year this season, McCarthy quietly worked her way up the record books, and drew interest from the WNBA.
McCarthy struggled down the stretch, however, averaging just 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in five postseason games. She was disappointed to leave Temple without an A-10 championship.
McCarthy moved on, however, working out to prepare for her pro career. She also attended the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association “So You Want To Be A Coach” program during the women’s NCAA Final Four.
But her coaching days will remain on hold for a while as she hopes for a training camp invite in the WNBA or an invitation to play in Europe.
“It’s been a good experience, a good ride,” McCarthy said. “I think I’m definitely ready to move on to the next step, just continue playing and everything.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jake.adams@temple.edu.
McCarthy watched the Women’s National Basketball Association’s 2012 draft expecting to hear her name called, but never did.
“I’ll just continue to work out, hopefully get a training camp invite,” McCarthy said. “I feel that all I need is the chance […] Basketball is my dream.”
McCarthy now must entertain the options of a WNBA training camp invite, heading to Europe to play professionally or moving on to coaching.
In her four years McCarthy established herself as “one of the best players to ever play here at Temple, if not the best besides Candice Dupree, obviously,” said senior guard Shey Peddy, who was selected 23rd overall by the Chicago Sky at the WNBA Draft.
McCarthy averaged 12.4 points in 131 games, grabbed 713 rebounds (9th all-time), recorded 209 steals (8th all-time) and is in the Top 10 in several other categories. She also owns the top single-game scoring record with 42 points against Charlotte two years ago.
“She never takes a day off,” Peddy said. “She comes to practice, weight room, whatever it is, she gives 110 percent. And it’s rare to find. I know sometimes I take plays off.”
But what brought the self-described “Cali girl” all the way out to the East Coast for four years, with its snowy winters and lack of her favorite Mexican food?
“I just wanted to come to the East Coast and just experience something different,” McCarthy said. “Something just changed in me [sophomore year of high school], I don’t know what.”
While she adjusted well on the floor – fourth in school history in scoring with 1,619 points – she never quite got the hang of Philadelphia.
“She always complains about how it’s 80 degrees back at home,” Peddy said, making fun of her teammate. “If you want to come to the East Coast this is what you get over here.”
Thankfully for the Owls basketball isn’t played outdoors.
McCarthy is the second of five children, and the only one playing college sports. McCarthy began dribbling a ball when she was 5 years old, and quickly developed into a playmaker. When the time came she looked at the University of California, Rutgers and Temple. She chose Temple because of former coach Dawn Staley.
But when Staley left for South Carolina and Tonya Cardoza was hired a few months before McCarthy’s arrival McCarthy decided to ask for her release from Temple. Cardoza was unavailable for comment.
“[Cardoza] had said one reason why she didn’t release is because I took the time to come all the way out here,” McCarthy said. “And she said she saw how I was interacting with the teammates and stuff and she just felt in her heart that I liked it here.”
McCarthy fit in immediately, averaging 8.6 points per game on her way to the Atlantic Ten Conference All-Rookie Team and Big 5 Rookie of the Year in her first season.
McCarthy missed her family, but quickly made Philadelphia her second home and decided against transferring after her freshman year.
“I just really enjoyed everything,” McCarthy said. “I think how I am, anyway, I’m going to enjoy anywhere that I am. But I was just comfortable.”
Her junior year McCarthy teamed with Wright State transfer Peddy, becoming one of the most dangerous duos in the conference.
“She made my transition coming here a lot smoother,” Peddy said.
The pair averaged a combined 25.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in their first season together, as the Owls lost in the A-10 semifinals.
“She’s not cocky at all, I think that’s what separates her from everybody,” Peddy said. “[McCarthy] is good, everybody knows she’s good, but she still works as if she’s the worst player on the team.”
While Peddy averaged 17.6 points per game on her way to A-10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year this season, McCarthy quietly worked her way up the record books, and drew interest from the WNBA.
McCarthy struggled down the stretch, however, averaging just 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in five postseason games. She was disappointed to leave Temple without an A-10 championship.
McCarthy moved on, however, working out to prepare for her pro career. She also attended the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association “So You Want To Be A Coach” program during the women’s NCAA Final Four.
But her coaching days will remain on hold for a while as she hopes for a training camp invite in the WNBA or an invitation to play in Europe.
“It’s been a good experience, a good ride,” McCarthy said. “I think I’m definitely ready to move on to the next step, just continue playing and everything.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jake.adams@temple.edu.
TTN: Peddy goes pro
http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/04/16/peddy-goes-pro/
(April 16, 2012)
The Chicago Sky select Shey Peddy in the second round.
KATE McCANN TTN file photos Senior guard Shey Peddy becomes the women’s basketball program’s third player to be drafted into the WNBA.
A nervous Shey Peddy played on her phone and pretended not to have the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Draft on her mind.
Peddy told The Temple News that she knew the WNBA’s Chicago Sky had been taking a look at her. When the 23rd overall pick in the second round came up, the former guard for the Owls became the third player in program history to join a WNBA team yesterday, April 16.
“I worked so hard throughout my career and even just here at Temple, and just to know that it paid off and I made history at Temple as well is definitely an indescribable feeling,” Peddy said.
The Atlantic Ten Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year recorded 1,045 points (1,899 career points) and 206 steals, which ranks ninth in program history. Peddy said she can’t wait to start training with her new team.
“I’m really excited to join Chicago,” Peddy said. “Coach Pokey Chatman’s definitely one of the most well-respected coaches in the league, and even throughout basketball. Just to have the chance to play with these legends almost, it’s definitely a great feeling for me.”
Peddy joins former forward Candice Dupree, drafted sixth overall in 2006 by the Sky before being traded to the Phoenix Mercury in 2010, and Kamesha Hairston, taken 12th overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2007, as the only Owls drafted by the WNBA.
Texas A&M guard Sydney Carter was also drafted by Chicago, who finished 14-20 last season.
“We’re all really happy for her,” coach Tonya Cardoza said in a press release yesterday. “I know how much she wanted this.”
“[Sky coach] Pokey Chatman is a great coach and there’s lots of good talent there,” Cardoza added. “They are looking for guards, they need guards, and this is a great opportunity for [Peddy].”
Peddy ranks first in program history with 3.1 steals per contest and is ranked third all-time with a career average of 15.8 points per game.
The Wright State transfer also posted the following career numbers, which all rank second in school history: 79.8 percent free throw percentage, 3.6 assists per game and a 37.4 percentage from behind the three-point line.
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
(April 16, 2012)
The Chicago Sky select Shey Peddy in the second round.
KATE McCANN TTN file photos Senior guard Shey Peddy becomes the women’s basketball program’s third player to be drafted into the WNBA.
A nervous Shey Peddy played on her phone and pretended not to have the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Draft on her mind.
Peddy told The Temple News that she knew the WNBA’s Chicago Sky had been taking a look at her. When the 23rd overall pick in the second round came up, the former guard for the Owls became the third player in program history to join a WNBA team yesterday, April 16.
“I worked so hard throughout my career and even just here at Temple, and just to know that it paid off and I made history at Temple as well is definitely an indescribable feeling,” Peddy said.
The Atlantic Ten Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year recorded 1,045 points (1,899 career points) and 206 steals, which ranks ninth in program history. Peddy said she can’t wait to start training with her new team.
“I’m really excited to join Chicago,” Peddy said. “Coach Pokey Chatman’s definitely one of the most well-respected coaches in the league, and even throughout basketball. Just to have the chance to play with these legends almost, it’s definitely a great feeling for me.”
Peddy joins former forward Candice Dupree, drafted sixth overall in 2006 by the Sky before being traded to the Phoenix Mercury in 2010, and Kamesha Hairston, taken 12th overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2007, as the only Owls drafted by the WNBA.
Texas A&M guard Sydney Carter was also drafted by Chicago, who finished 14-20 last season.
“We’re all really happy for her,” coach Tonya Cardoza said in a press release yesterday. “I know how much she wanted this.”
“[Sky coach] Pokey Chatman is a great coach and there’s lots of good talent there,” Cardoza added. “They are looking for guards, they need guards, and this is a great opportunity for [Peddy].”
Peddy ranks first in program history with 3.1 steals per contest and is ranked third all-time with a career average of 15.8 points per game.
The Wright State transfer also posted the following career numbers, which all rank second in school history: 79.8 percent free throw percentage, 3.6 assists per game and a 37.4 percentage from behind the three-point line.
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
Apr 3, 2012
TTN: Impact Ace
http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/04/02/impact-ace/
(April 3, 2012)
ABI REIMOLD TTN Redshirt-senior Capri Catalano winds up to pitch in her first season with the Owls.
Redshirt-senior pitcher has helped the Owls get off to a 4-0 A-10 start despite disability.
Sophomore catcher Stephanie Pasquale called timeout and walked out to the mound in the Owls’ doubleheader sweep against La Salle on Friday, March 30. The mound visit was not used to calm down her pitcher, redshirt-senior Capri Catalano, but Pasquale needed to relay a message from coach Joe DiPietro.
“When [Catalano’s] on the field I can’t yell from the dugout to her,” DiPietro said. “I have to get our catcher to get her attention to look at me.”
That’s because Catalano is almost completely deaf. Just before her fourth birthday she contracted bacterial meningitis and slipped into a coma for three weeks. Her parents were told she had a slim chance of making it.
“[My parents] were very upset,” Catalano said. “They didn’t know if I was going to live, but they were happy that I fought it through and it’s bringing me to here, where I am today.”
After she came out of her coma, Catalano spent years relearning how to walk, talk and find her balance. But her hearing didn’t make a full recovery and she was granted one of the first cochlear implants for a child to help her hear.
“I had a lot of therapy to help me to be able to walk straight and sit up instead of falling down,” Catalano said.
When Catalano was 7 years old she picked up softball, and shortly after that, began pitching. Catalano quickly became one of New Jersey’s most dominant pitchers, graduating high school in 2007 with 1,346 strikeouts, which set a state record. From there she went to the University of South Florida and posted a 17-1 record as a freshman in 2008.
“I really wanted to go to school in Florida,” Catalano said. “I thought it was a good school, but it was far away from home. I was homesick for a while.”
But Catalano redshirted her sophomore year due to a shoulder injury. She never regained a foothold in the rotation the next two years and decided to come back closer to home, which was a lot easier on her father.
“He’s able to make most of the games now,” Catalano said. “He’s really happy that he’s able to come to more games.”
Catalano has made an impact on and off the field for the Owls (16-11, 4-0 Atlantic Ten Conference).
On the mound Catalano’s 4-5 after a slow start recovering from an off-season injury. But in her past two starts she allowed six hits, struck out five and went 2-0 with two shutouts, including taking a no-hitter into the fifth in a win against Wagner on Tuesday, March 27.
“She’s a rise-ball pitcher,” DiPietro said. “When she stays the way she needs to stay, her rise really jumps. Plus she does have good velocity and she’s around the plate a lot, she doesn’t walk a lot of people usually.”
“But the thing is she’s had four years of college experience, so she has the experience factor, which really helps us,” he added.
Catalano also has positive work ethic during practice, DiPietro said.
“I think in spite of her handicap that she has, she works her butt off, she really does,” DiPietro said. “She spends a lot of hours pitching.”
Off the field, she’s developed relationships with her new teammates, who have learned how to sign to their pitcher.
“She’s taught us some things,” Pasquale said. “She’s taught a lot of the girls the alphabet so now they can spell things out to her. It’s cool because you have to learn different ways of speaking without talking.”
But there has also been some challenges. Catalano can hear but needs to be facing the person as they’re talking to understand them, or at least to read their lips. She can talk on the phone, but only if she knows the person well enough.
“I can hear a lot, but it doesn’t mean I understand what they’re saying,” Catalano said. “If you’re talking behind me I hear something but I don’t know that the voice is coming directly at me.”
She also has trouble hearing if she’s surrounded by a lot of loud noise, like cheering teammates. That hasn’t stopped the coach from getting through to her, though.
“[Catalano] and I really didn’t have much of an issue communicating, plus I have a big mouth so I’m able to get through to her,” DiPietro said.
But Catalano also uses her deafness to an advantage, something that could help in the remainder of the Owl’s A-10 season.
“I think it’s an advantage because I don’t hear other teams,” Catalano said. “So I’m more focused.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
(April 3, 2012)
ABI REIMOLD TTN Redshirt-senior Capri Catalano winds up to pitch in her first season with the Owls.
Redshirt-senior pitcher has helped the Owls get off to a 4-0 A-10 start despite disability.
Sophomore catcher Stephanie Pasquale called timeout and walked out to the mound in the Owls’ doubleheader sweep against La Salle on Friday, March 30. The mound visit was not used to calm down her pitcher, redshirt-senior Capri Catalano, but Pasquale needed to relay a message from coach Joe DiPietro.
“When [Catalano’s] on the field I can’t yell from the dugout to her,” DiPietro said. “I have to get our catcher to get her attention to look at me.”
That’s because Catalano is almost completely deaf. Just before her fourth birthday she contracted bacterial meningitis and slipped into a coma for three weeks. Her parents were told she had a slim chance of making it.
“[My parents] were very upset,” Catalano said. “They didn’t know if I was going to live, but they were happy that I fought it through and it’s bringing me to here, where I am today.”
After she came out of her coma, Catalano spent years relearning how to walk, talk and find her balance. But her hearing didn’t make a full recovery and she was granted one of the first cochlear implants for a child to help her hear.
“I had a lot of therapy to help me to be able to walk straight and sit up instead of falling down,” Catalano said.
When Catalano was 7 years old she picked up softball, and shortly after that, began pitching. Catalano quickly became one of New Jersey’s most dominant pitchers, graduating high school in 2007 with 1,346 strikeouts, which set a state record. From there she went to the University of South Florida and posted a 17-1 record as a freshman in 2008.
“I really wanted to go to school in Florida,” Catalano said. “I thought it was a good school, but it was far away from home. I was homesick for a while.”
But Catalano redshirted her sophomore year due to a shoulder injury. She never regained a foothold in the rotation the next two years and decided to come back closer to home, which was a lot easier on her father.
“He’s able to make most of the games now,” Catalano said. “He’s really happy that he’s able to come to more games.”
Catalano has made an impact on and off the field for the Owls (16-11, 4-0 Atlantic Ten Conference).
On the mound Catalano’s 4-5 after a slow start recovering from an off-season injury. But in her past two starts she allowed six hits, struck out five and went 2-0 with two shutouts, including taking a no-hitter into the fifth in a win against Wagner on Tuesday, March 27.
“She’s a rise-ball pitcher,” DiPietro said. “When she stays the way she needs to stay, her rise really jumps. Plus she does have good velocity and she’s around the plate a lot, she doesn’t walk a lot of people usually.”
“But the thing is she’s had four years of college experience, so she has the experience factor, which really helps us,” he added.
Catalano also has positive work ethic during practice, DiPietro said.
“I think in spite of her handicap that she has, she works her butt off, she really does,” DiPietro said. “She spends a lot of hours pitching.”
Off the field, she’s developed relationships with her new teammates, who have learned how to sign to their pitcher.
“She’s taught us some things,” Pasquale said. “She’s taught a lot of the girls the alphabet so now they can spell things out to her. It’s cool because you have to learn different ways of speaking without talking.”
But there has also been some challenges. Catalano can hear but needs to be facing the person as they’re talking to understand them, or at least to read their lips. She can talk on the phone, but only if she knows the person well enough.
“I can hear a lot, but it doesn’t mean I understand what they’re saying,” Catalano said. “If you’re talking behind me I hear something but I don’t know that the voice is coming directly at me.”
She also has trouble hearing if she’s surrounded by a lot of loud noise, like cheering teammates. That hasn’t stopped the coach from getting through to her, though.
“[Catalano] and I really didn’t have much of an issue communicating, plus I have a big mouth so I’m able to get through to her,” DiPietro said.
But Catalano also uses her deafness to an advantage, something that could help in the remainder of the Owl’s A-10 season.
“I think it’s an advantage because I don’t hear other teams,” Catalano said. “So I’m more focused.”
Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu.
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