Macy Named East Carolina Women's Basketball Head Coach
April 30, 2010 | Women's Basketball
April 30, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Heather Macy, who guided Francis Marion University to a 75-19 record as well as three NCAA Division II Tournament berths and national rankings, has been named head coach of the East Carolina women's basketball program, according to an announcement by director of athletics Terry Holland Friday.
Macy succeeds Sharon Baldwin-Tener, who accepted the same position at Georgia State University earlier this month.
"I am excited about this new opportunity at East Carolina," Macy said. "I am looking forward to getting started right away. I would like to thank Chancellor Ballard, Terry Holland and the search committee for their help through this process. I am anxious to meet the team and to get to know the players."
The Executive Committee of the ECU Board of Trustees, acting for the full board, formally approved the appointment of Macy and a memorandum of understanding in a conference call meeting Friday afternoon.
"Coach Macy's resume is extremely impressive," Holland said. "After her first year as a head coach, her teams have averaged over 25 wins per season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. Her squads play an exciting brand of basketball at both ends of the floor and have consistently led the country in scoring and steals at the Division II level.
"Her commitment to the total development of student-athletes is just as impressive and her coaches and team members play an active leadership role in the community as well. I truly believe she has a contagious energy and enthusiasm that will excite the Pirate Nation and provide the momentum to help ECU women's basketball achieve its goal to compete for conference and national championships."
"I know Heather will do a great job at East Carolina," North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell remarked. "The program is adding one of the top young coaches in the country and I fully expect that her success at Francis Marion will carry over to ECU. I think Heather will handle the transition to Division I with the same class she has shown throughout her career and that fans will love her exciting, up-tempo brand of women's basketball."
Macy, who owns a career record of 115-39, led Francis Marion to a 27-5 ledger last season as the squad finished second in the East Division of the Peach Belt Conference. The Patriots then reached the championship game of the league tournament before falling to Lander University. FMU subsequently earned a berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament and advanced to the second round. Additionally, Francis Marion led the nation in steals per game and ranked second in both scoring offense and assists while earning a No. 20 national ranking in the final USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 poll.
During the 2008-09 campaign, Macy directed the Patriots to a 27-5 record, a No. 14 national ranking, a second-straight Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance where the team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. For the second-straight season, Francis Marion led Division II in scoring offense and steals per game. It marked the third time in as many seasons that a Macy-coached team led the nation in scoring offense. She also earned conference coach-of-the-year honors for a third-straight campaign.
In her first season at the helm of the program, Macy guided the Patriots to a 21-9 mark and was named Peach Belt Coach-of-the-Year. After inheriting a squad that was 6-22 the season before her arrival, the 21 wins equaled the largest turn-around in NCAA Division II that year and the eighth-best in history. Francis Marion captured a share of the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title and earned a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament, where the Patriots served as the host for the South Atlantic Regional. FMU also led the nation in scoring offense and steals per game.
The Hamptonville, N.C., native arrived at Francis Marion after serving two seasons as head coach at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C. In 2006-07, she took the Falcons to a 26-5 record, the Carolina-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC) regular-season and tournament championships, and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The team's record represented the fourth-best turnaround in Division II that campaign. She was named the CVAC Coach-of-the-Year and Pfeiffer led the nation in scoring offense.
In her first season with the Falcons, her squad produced a 14-15 ledger after she inherited just four returnees from an 8-20 team.
Macy's coaching resume includes stints as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and High Point University, as well as a pair of Division II schools - Lenoir-Rhyne College and Catawba College. In her six seasons as an assistant, she helped her teams to an 84-60 record.
She also gained experience as head coach for a USA Athletes International squad that toured Australia in 2004 and won a gold medal with a 7-0 mark at the Australian Youth Games.
Macy is the founder of the highly-successful Focused 50 Basketball Camp, which is currently held at Francis Marion. She was a featured speaker at the 2008 South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association clinic in North Charleston, the 2009 Triad Coaches Clinic in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the NIKE Coaching Clinic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Macy also holds an annual coaches clinic at FMU.
Macy received a B.S. degree in sport and exercise studies (cum laude) in 2000 from Greensboro College, where she was a four-year letterwinner for the women's basketball team. She ended her career 11th on the Pride's career scoring list and in the top 10 for assists. In 2002, she earned a master's degree in human performance and recreation from the University of Southern Mississippi.
