Heather Oesterle (born ) is a former collegiate

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who is currently an assistant coach for the

Stanford Cardinal women's basketball The Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represents Stanford University, located in Stanford, California. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cardinal are led by head coach Kate Paye, who previously s ...

team. Previously, she was the head coach of the

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

and the strategic program director of Notre Dame women's basketball teams. Oesterle was named CMU's head women's basketball coach in July, 2019, succeeding her long-time mentor

Sue Guevara Susan Marie Guevara (born July 8, 1954) is the former head women's basketball coach at Central Michigan University. She previously served as the head women's basketball coach at the University of Michigan from 1996 to 2003. Sue announced her retir ...

. Oesterle served for nine seasons on Guevara's staff at CMU, helping lead the program to unprecedented heights including three Mid-American Conference championships, two MAC Tournament titles, and five MAC West Division crowns. She earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Michigan in 2002 and her master's degree in sports studies from Miami in 2008.

Playing career

She played four years under head coach

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

from 1998 to 2002.

Michigan statistics

Source

Coaching career

Early in her coaching career she was an assistant at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

before coming to the

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

as assistant at Miami (OH) and

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

. She joined Guevara's staff at

in 2012 where she remained until Guevara's retirement.

Central Michigan

On July 12, 2019, Oesterle was announced as the new head coach of the Central Michigan women's basketball program. In her first season the Chippewas won the regular season championship with a 15–1

record. They were upset in the MAC tournament prior to its cancellation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and their hopes in the postseason were dashed by the cancellation of the NCAA tournament In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, her team won the MAC tournament with a 77–72 win over Bowling Green. They lost to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the first round of the NCAA tournament. After seasons with single digit wins in her final two years she was fired April 6, 2023.

Notre Dame

On September 7, 2023, Oesterle was announced as Notre Dame's strategic program director.

Return to Stanford

On April 25, 2024, Oesterle returned to

as an assistant coach on

Kate Paye Katherine Anne Paye (born March 6, 1974) is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player who is currently the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team. Early life and college career Paye was born at the med ...

's staff.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Central Michigan Chippewas coaching bio
Living people 1979 births American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Ingham County, Michigan People from Mason, Michigan Penn State Lady Lions basketball coaches Northern Illinois Huskies women's basketball coaches Michigan Wolverines women's basketball players Central Michigan Chippewas women's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks women's basketball coaches Stanford Cardinal women's basketball coaches {{Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year navbox