Stearsman named assistant coach for Mountain Lions

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Young Harris College women's basketball coach Brenda Paul announced the addition of Matt Stearsman as an assistant coach on her staff.

"Matt is a passionate, enthusiastic young coach with the knowledge and leadership skills to be a terrific head coach," said Paul. "Matt has experienced success at every program he has helped to develop which is a testament to his coaching and recruiting skills as well as his ability to motivate players."

Stearsman joins the Mountain Lions after spending the past two seasons as a member of the Gannon University men's basketball staff. He arrived in Erie, Pa., prior to the 2010-11 campaign after serving as the associate head coach at St. Catharine College the previous two seasons. In 2009-10, he helped produce the best turnaround in the country as St. Catharine posted a 21-11 record. Five of those victories came against top 25 teams. The 21 overall wins came one year after the program won only five games in 2008-09. Patriot players earned all-conference honors five times during his two seasons on the staff.

Prior to his stint at St. Catharine, Stearsman was an assistant coach for one season (2007-08) at Georgia Southwestern State University and two seasons (2005-07) at Oklahoma City University. He helped Oklahoma City produce a 64-10 record during that two-year span. The Stars advanced to back-to-back NAIA national championship games, winning the national title at 2007. The program finished No. 1 in the final 2007 national rankings and No. 7 in the final 2006 poll. At Oklahoma City, he was able to tutor NAIA All-America third-team members Nick Covington (2007) and Dawud Drew (2006).

Stearsman began his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at NCAA Division II power Kentucky Wesleyan College from 2002-05. In 2003, the Panthers finished as the NCAA Division II national runner-up.

Before coaching at Kentucky Wesleyan, Stearsman was an assistant at Hopkins County Central High School. Stearsman was a two-sport student-athlete at Hopkins County Central, being a three-year starter at first base in baseball and lettering once in basketball.  A Mortons Gap, Ky., native, Stearsman is a 2001 graduate of Hopkins County Central and a 2006 graduate of Oklahoma City with a bachelor's degree in English.

Stearsman and his wife Jennifer have a son, Brice (2).