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Women's Basketball Announces New Coaching Staff for 2010-11 Season

The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's basketball team hired two assistant coaches and a graduate assistant coach for the upcoming season, announced Thursday, Sept. 2, by Head Coach Peter CinellaCinella enters his fourth season as the leader of the Knights, and he will be accompanied by assistant Millette Green, assistant Mercedez Walker and graduate assistant Jennifer Walkling.

 

Green served the past two seasons as an assistant basketball coach for Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI).  At IUPUI, she was the film exchange coordinator during her first season and was the scouting and team travel coordinator during her second season.

Prior to Green's stint with the Jaguars, she was an assistant coach at Robert Morris University.  At RMU, she assisted with recruiting, on-the-court coaching, player development, opponent scouting, game-film breakdown and analysis, game preparation and strategy.

Green spent the spring of 2007 as a community relations intern for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

Green played collegiate at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC before transferring to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and an MBA Preparatory Certificate in 2003.  She completed her Master's of Business Administration and Master's of Science in Sports Management at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL.

 "We are very excited to be adding Millette as our top assistant coach," Cinella said.  "She has a great deal of experience.  She has knowledge of the NEC from her days as a starter at UMBC and her days as an assistant coach at Robert Morris.  She also has championship game experience as she lost in the championship game as a player and won the championship as a coach.  She brings a great wealth of experience from her jobs with the Miami Dolphins, Charlotte Bobcats and her previous Division I coaching experience."

Walker, a former Knight ('08) who holds the school record for blocks in a career (180), has been promoted to assistant coach after serving as the graduate assistant for last season's squad, where she managed the film exchange program and assisted in post player instruction.

During the summer of 2008, the Startford, CT native signed a professional contract with the C.V. Lions.  However, an injury cut short her time in Denmark and Halle, Germany and subsequently her tenure in Germany Division I.

Besides finishing her career as the all-time blocks leader at FDU, Walker scored 477 points (4.2 ppg) and grabbed 433 rebounds (3.8 rpg). 

"Mercedez Walker did a great job for us as a graduate assistant," Cinella said.  "Now she has been promoted to a full-time position.  She is a tremendous recruiter.  As an alumnus of FDU, she brings the knowledge of our campus and the desire to lead our team to success."

Walkling ('08) is returning to her roots that saw her finish as FDU's eighth all-time leading scorer (1,243 points) and third all-time leading rebounder (851).  She was a four-year starter at forward for the Knights and helped turn the team around from a two-win season her freshman year to a mark of 13-17 during her senior season.  Walkling's last season on campus was Cinella's first, and the Knights earned the fifth seed in the NEC Tournament.   

A Westminister, MD native, Walkling averaged 17.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game her senior year, en route to earning Second Team All-NEC honors.  She registered a career-best 25 points on three occasions, coupled with a team-leading 292 rebounds and 66 assists, as well as a second-best 44 steals.  Walkling played in three NEC Tournaments for the Knights

In July 2008, Walkling inked a one-year professional contract to play for the C.B. Balls in Spain.

"We are glad to bring Jen back," Cinella said.  "She was a great player and leader for our team during my first season.  She has two years of professional experience playing overseas in Spain and is one of the best rebounders in recent FDU history.  We hope she can add her rebounding knowledge and skill-set to our current players."

The Knights return all 13 players from last year's 9-20 (5-13 NEC) squad.  The team is tentatively scheduled to open the 2010-11 campaign at Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 4:00 p.m.

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