A former player and assistant for Penn women's basketball coach Mike McLaughlin, former William and Mary assistant Kelly Killion (left) is back for a second go in University City.
Credit: Courtesy of William and Mary AthleticsWhen Penn women’s basketball coach Mike McLaughlin had to hire a new assistant coach, he didn’t have to look far.
Following Chris Day’s departure for Vermont in May, former William and Mary assistant Kelly Killion was announced as his replacement last Thursday.
Killion is far from an unfamiliar face to McLaughlin. A standout guard, Killion played for McLaughlin from 2003-08 at Holy Family. For the Tigers, Killion was a three-time captain, two-time Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player of the Year and a Division II All-American in 2007-08.
“She’s always had a high level of basketball maturity, ever since I coached her 10 years ago,” McLaughlin noted. “But now she’s just developed in a different role as a coach, looking at the game as an assistant coach, being able to benefit the program.”
Following the 2007-08 season, McLaughlin departed for University City. He and Killion would soon cross paths again.
In 2010, Killion came on board for the Quakers as an assistant coach, working primarily with guards and taking eventual Ivy League Player of the Year Alyssa Baron under her wing. Though Killion departed for Sacred Heart following the 2011-12 season, Baron would go on to lead the Red and Blue to just their second-ever Ivy League title in 2013-14 as McLaughlin secured his first of two Ancient Eight titles.
“Being back at Penn, it’s home for me,” she said. “It’s where I started my career ... so it’s just one of those things where it was the right fit — it’s a great feeling to be back.”
Killion spent a single season at Sacred Heart before following head coach Ed Swanson to Virginia when he took over at the helm of William and Mary in 2013. She spent three seasons with the Tribe, working primarily with the guards and helping coordinate the program’s recruiting efforts as the team made its first-ever postseason appearance in the 2015 Women’s Basketball Invitational.
Now, following Day’s departure in May, Killion is ready to come back for a second round with the Quakers.
On McLaughlin’s end, he immediately knew Killion would be at the top of his list — the two maintained a close relationship even as Killion made stops at Sacred Heart and William and Mary — and after narrowing down potential hires, he made his final decision.
“I vetted a lot of people. Kelly was right at the top of my list from the very beginning and she never moved,” McLaughlin explained. “We met a few times and she was someone I knew that’s a winner, that’s been here at Penn, that has won at the college level as a player, she’s won as a coach. I wanted someone who cares at a deep level about the people.”
Before making it official, however, he made sure to give six of his upperclassmen a chance to speak with their potential new coach. Killion got approval all around.
Day worked primarily with the forwards — including reigning Ivy league Player of the Year Sydney Stipanovich — and McLaughlin plans to have Killion do the same despite having focused on guard work her last time in University City.
“Player development, for me, is probably my favorite part of the game — being able to coach the post players is something that I love to do,” Killion said. “I’ve done it in the past and I’ll continue to love doing it.”
Killion’s familiarity with the staff — she not only played and coached under McLaughlin, but also for assistant coach Bernadette Laukaitis, in addition to spending two years as a Holy Family teammate of Director of Operations Christine McCollum — will help ease the transition as the team looks to repeat as Ancient Eight champions. And that title was foremost in McLaughlin’s mind as he made his decision.
“To be able to bring her back here, I’m not taking a chance on anyone,” he said. “I know what I have here, and I think that’s really important. And I think that’s great for Penn basketball, because we’re getting an absolute winner.”
With a complete staff, McLaughlin will now set out to defend his second Ivy League championship this season. Thankfully, not many players on his team graduated in May, meaning that confidence should be high as November draws closer.
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