Joanna Lynn Bernabei-McNamee (born 1975) is an American college basketball coach who is currently head women's basketball coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Early life and education

Born Joanna Lynn Bernabei in

Weirton, West Virginia Weirton () is a city in Brooke and Hancock counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located primarily in Hancock County, the city lies in the northern portions of the state's Northern Panhandle region. As of the 2020 census, the city's pop ...

, Bernabei-McNamee graduated from

Weirton Madonna High School Weirton Madonna High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Weirton, West Virginia. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Principals * Sr. Marian James, CSJ, 1955-1957 * Sr. Rose Winefride, 1957–58 * Sr. ...

in 1993. She helped Weirton Madonna win a girls' basketball state championship and also lettered in tennis and track at the school. After high school, she enrolled at

West Liberty State College West Liberty University (WLU) is a public university in West Liberty, West Virginia. It is West Virginia's oldest institution of higher education. It offers more than 70 undergraduate majors plus graduate programs, including a master's degree i ...

. A

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, Bernabei-McNamee was a four-year all-

WVIAC The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pe ...

honoree and reached both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her collegiate career. In 1997, she graduated from West Liberty State with a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology.

West Liberty State College statistics

Source

Coaching career

Bernabei-McNamee began her coaching career at

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

in 1997 under Larry Joe Inman. She also completed a master's degree in sports administration at Eastern Kentucky in 1998. In 1998, Bernabei-McNamee became head women's basketball coach and senior women's athletics administrator at Division II

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist E ...

. At the time, she was the youngest college head coach in the U.S. Under Bernabei-McNamee, West Virginia Wesleyan went 18–10 (15–6 WVIAC). Bernabei-McNamee then spent the next two years back on Inman's staff at Eastern Kentucky. Bernabei-McNamee joined Mike Carey's staff as assistant coach at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 2001. Two years later, she became an assistant at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

under

Brenda Frese Brenda Sue Frese (born April 30, 1970) is an American women's basketball head coach and former player. Since 2002, she has served as the head coach of the University of Maryland women's basketball team. In her fourth year as head coach, she won the ...

and was part of the Maryland team that won the 2006 NCAA tournament. For the 2008–09 season, Bernabei-McNamee rejoined Carey at West Virginia as assistant coach. In 2013, Bernabei-McNamee became head coach at the

University of Pikeville The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) is a private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Pikeville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church and is located on a campus on a hillside overlooking ...

, an NAIA school. In three seasons, she went 63–26 at Pikeville, including a 26–9 record and Final Four appearance in 2015–16. On April 15, 2016, Albany hired Bernabei-McNamee to be women's basketball head coach.

Personal life

In 2004, Joanna Bernabei married Joseph McNamee. They have two children. From 2007 to 2008 and 2009 to 2013, she was a stay-at-home parent.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernabei-McNamee, Joanna 1975 births Living people Albany Great Danes women's basketball coaches American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia Boston College Eagles women's basketball coaches Eastern Kentucky Colonels women's basketball coaches Eastern Kentucky University alumni Maryland Terrapins women's basketball coaches People from Weirton, West Virginia Pikeville Bears coaches West Liberty University alumni West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball coaches West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats and Lady Bobcats Point guards