Photo courtesy: Green Bay Athletics
The St. Norbert Knights women’s basketball program will have a great new addition on their squad next season: Amanda Leonhard-Perry recently accepted the head coach position, concluding an 11-year stint at Green Bay. Leonhard-Perry, assistant coach for the Phoenix and a Green Bay alumnus herself, is looking forward to the new adventure – on the other side of the river.
“I am excited to be a head coach,” she said. “I’ve learned from some really good head coaches in my time as an assistant and I’m excited and ready to have my own team.”
Leonhard-Perry will have big shoes to fill, taking over for Coach Connie Tilley, a staple for the Green Knights since 1977. Tilley’s impressive coaching career landed her in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015.
“Coach Tilley has had a huge impact on women’s basketball at St. Norbert and has been a great ambassador for the women’s game as a whole,” Leonhard-Perry said. “I don’t know that anyone can fill her shoes. But I can hope to follow the path that she has paved and be a leader, a teacher and a role model to the young women in our program.”
Photo courtesy: Green Bay Athletics
Her coaching style will be a combination of approaches she’s learned as both a player and assistant coach. “That’s how you develop and mold your coaching philosophy into your own: pieces from things that you both like and dislike along the way,” she said. “I’m a defensive-minded coach and that will be a huge piece of our identity.”
She wants to bring the Phoenix culture to her new position with the Green Knights. “Family is important to me and the family feel that we had at Green Bay I hope to carry over, along with the culture of working hard and being accountable.”
While at Green Bay, Leonhard-Perry assisted both former head coach Matt Bollant and current head coach Kevin Borseth. Her impressive coaching record of 333-62 is supported by eight NCAA tournament appearances and ten Horizon League regular season titles. As a player from 1999 to 2002, she scored 1,097 career points. She will start her position at St. Norbert June 1.
Photo courtesy: Green Bay Athletics
“I’ve loved my 15 years here at Green Bay as a player and a coach. As an alum ‘once a Phoenix, always a Phoenix’ so UWGB will always hold a special place in my heart,” she said. “Thank you to our fans and the players I’ve had an opportunity to coach here, you truly make it a special place to be!”
Defending Champs include: Carley Chapin, Sylvia Christensen, Rachel Koepke, Mackenzie May and Katie Pozorski.
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She won’t have to change colors!