Melissa Dunne - Assistant Women's Basketball Coach - Women's Basketball Coaches

Melissa Dunne

Title:
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach
Email:
melissa.dunne@drexel.edu
Phone:
x-1971

Playing Career
Temple University (1998-2002)
2000-01 Big 5 Champions
2000-01 Atlantic 10 Champions
2001 NCAA Tournament
1999-00 Most Improved Player

Coaching
Drexel University Assistant Coach (2004-06, 2007-16)
University of Rhode Island Assistant Coach (2006-07)
Drexel University Graduate Assistant Coach (2002-04)

Career Accolades
Played point guard for former head coach, WNBA All-Star and Olympian Dawn Staley at Temple

Assistant Coach Melissa Dunne enters her eleventh season at Drexel and her ninth season as a Dragons assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. The intensity Dunne brought to the court as a point guard at Temple under women’s basketball Hall of Famer Dawn Staley became the cornerstone of Denise Dillon’s coaching staff since Dunne’s first days as a graduate assistant in 2002. Her ceaseless drive to succeed is now the force that is building Drexel into a perennial contender in the CAA.

As a result of joining Dillon’s first coaching staff at Drexel as a graduate assistant coach in 2002, and subsequently working her way up the coaching ladder, Dunne’s influence is evident in many aspects of the Dragons’ program. Dunne spent four years in University City as an assistant coach on Dillon’s first teams before departing to serve as an assistant at Rhode Island for the 2006-07 season. Dunne returned to Drexel as the recruiting coordinator in 2007-08 and helped to bring in classes of Dragons that helped the team win its first CAA Championship in 2009, win the WNIT in 2013, make back-to-back CAA championship game appearances in 2012-13, and appear in a total of five straight postseasons since the 2008-09 season.

As four-year member of the Temple University women’s basketball team, Dunne helped drive the resurgence of the program under Staley. After being named the team’s Most Improved Player for the 1999-2000 season, she was a member of Staley’s first team in 2000-01. The squad turned in a 19-11 mark, the Owls’ first winning record in a decade, and earned a bid to the WNIT. Dunne served as team captain on the 2002 squad that turned in just the third 20-win season in school history, won its first Atlantic 10 Title, captured the Big 5 crown and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988-89. She completed her bachelor’s degree in journalism, broadcasting and public relations at Temple in 2002 and went on to earn a master’s degree in public communication from Drexel.

The leadership abilities and quick decision-making that she gleaned as floor general under Staley have translated well in her coaching career, making her a valuable in-game resource for Dillon to have on the bench. While Dunne’s primary responsibility with the program is scouting and recruiting, her intensity and knowledge of the game are also assets during games and in practice.

Dunne has also taken an active role in crafting Drexel’s backcourt into one of the most reliable groups in the conference over the past few years. In 2009, the Dragons’ senior guard Andrea Peterson ranked among the top five in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio as a result of her work with Dunne. In 2010 sophomore point guard Marisa Crane lead the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranked among to top 45 in the nation. In 2012-13, Drexel led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, led by a trio of Hollie Mershon, Meghan Creighton and Fiona Flanagan in the backcourt.

Since the 2004-05 season, the Dragons have ranked among the top three in the CAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, including back-to-back No. 1 rankings in 2010 and 2011 and another in 2013, and the top 35 in the NCAA in the category every year that Dunne has been on the bench.

Dunne has been essential to Dillon’s effort to build a program for continued success at Drexel. In her first class of recruits as the team’s coordinator, Dunne brought Kamile Nacickaite, Marisa Crane and Tyler Hale to Drexel. All three players saw significant time during the Dragons’ championship run in 2009. In 2010 Dunne put together another strong class of freshmen, including Hollie Mershon and Taylor Wootton, both of whom ranked among the top 70 recruits at their position according to Scouts, Inc. and would ultimately lead the team to the 2013 WNIT Championship.

Dunne has been with the program through nearly every step of the Denise Dillon coaching-era. Much of the Dragons’ climb to the top of the CAA was made on the foundation that Dunne has helped to build at Drexel over the past eight years. And as she continues to recruit, develop and inspire greatness in new generations of players, Dunne has fortified the future of the Dragons’ ascent.