Durkin Named Associate Head Coach at Rider
Rider Sports Information
LAWRENCEVILLE - Women's basketball assistant coach Pam Durkin, the 1997 Rider University Athlete of the Year, has been named Associate Head Coach, Bronc head coach Lynn Milligan announced today.
Durkin returned to Rider in May, 2007 as Milligan's top assistant after serving as an assistant coach at Drexel University for seven seasons.
In her first two seasons at Rider, Durkin's responsibilities included coordination of all recruiting and working with the guards as well as over seeing the efforts to reconnect the team with its alumni through e-mail blasts, blogs and the quarterly newsletter Broncs' Bulletin.
Since Durkin's arrival, in conjunction with the Department of Athletics, her marketing efforts have helped Rider more than double its average attendance, bringing the fan base to 900 per game including an Alumni gym record 1,494 for a women's basketball game against nationally ranked Marist during the 2007-08 season.
Durkin's efforts on the recruiting trail helped the Broncs land Cintella Spotwood and Shannon Ferguson as members of Rider's first recruiting class under Milligan as well as Sarah Homan who earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie honors this past season. The first two recruiting seasons have seen Milligan's staff record eight National Letters of Intent (NLIs) for student-athletes to continue their careers at Rider University as members of the women's basketball team.
At Drexel Durkin was also in charge of alumni relations for the team, including coordination of Alumni Day and production of the team's Hoop Scoop newsletter. She played an important role in the recruiting and development of a pair of All-Conference selections and the team's Defensive Player of the Year in 2004-05, as well as two guards from the All-Star Girls Report Top 100.
While a player at Rider, Durkin was an All-Northeast Conference selection and also garnered NEC All-Academic Team honors. In addition, she was chosen as the 1996-97 South Jersey Collegiate Player of the Year by the Al Carino Basketball Club. She culminated her career with the Broncs in 1997, when she ranked seventh in the nation in rebounding average, pulling down 11.7 boards per game. That year she was inducted into the Sterling High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
A native of Somerdale, N.J., Durkin led Sterling High to four league championships and two state titles during her high school career.
After graduating from Rider with a bachelor's degree in Biology, Durkin continued her education at The College of New Jersey. She served as a graduate assistant while earning a master's degree in Physical Education and Athletic Administration. Her first coaching job came in the 1999-00 season when she became an assistant at Niagara University. At Niagara Durkin was in charge of recruiting and also took part in on-court player development.
Rider opens the 2009-10 season on November 13 in Alumni Gym against Seton Hall at 7:00 p.m.