Dean Walsh joined the Gardner-Webb women's basketball coachingstaff in June of 2012, serving as the Associate Head Coach andrecruiting coordinator for the 2012-13 season. He was also be in charge of working with the post players andhelping with day-to-day operations such as practice logs, workoutschedules, team meetings, etc. Coach Walsh brought a wealth of basketball knowledge andcoaching experience with him to Gardner-Webb having coached at theintercollegiate level for 19 years, serving as a head coach for 16years at Carson-Newman College, Maryville College and HiwasseeCollege in Tennessee. Walsh, who has posted an overall record of 299-164 as a headcoach, has been a part of 398 wins at the intercollegiate level,which includes 172 wins as the head coach of the Lady Eagles ofCarson-Newman placing him fourth on the all-time South AtlanticConference coaching list for victories and eighth all-time forwinning percentage (.585). Known as a tireless and relentless worker, Walsh has areputation of being a top-notch recruiter that is both passionateand energetic about the game. He has made 10 national tournamentappearances, including five "Sweet 16's", during his coachingcareer, including four years at Carson-Newman. Coach Walsh was named the NCAA Division II Region 3 Coach of theYear in both 2007 and 2005, and was also named the South AtlanticConference Coach of the Year in 2005. During his time atCarson-Newman, he led his teams to nine top-four finishes or higherin South Atlantic Conference play and to a school-record 25 wins in2005. Prior to coaching at Carson-Newman, Walsh served as the headcoach at Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn. from 1998-2001.There, Walsh led his teams to two straight NCAA Division IIITournament appearances and posted an overall record of 61-17 (.782)in three seasons. Walsh was also named the Great South AtlanticCoach of the Year in 2000, while his 2000-01 team was ranked ashigh as third in the South Region and 16th in the nation among allNCAA Division III institutions. Walsh's first head coaching job was as the head women'sbasketball coach at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn. from1994-97 where he posted a 66-23 overall record in just threeseasons. In only his second year, Walsh took the program, which hadwon only four games the previous two years combined, to a NJCAASweet 16 appearance and an overall 27-6 record in 1995-96. Thefollowing year, the 1996-97 team went 30-4 and set a new schoolrecord in wins en route to the NJCAA National Tournament in a No. 9national ranking. Coach Walsh was named the NJCAA Regional Coach of the Year inboth 1996 and 1997, the Tennessee Junior College Coach of the Yearin 1997 and was a finalist for the Women's Basketball CoachesAssociation District IX Coach of the Year in 1997. Nationally known, Walsh has served on many national and WBCAcommittees, including being a representative for the NCAA DivisionII on the Male Coaches for Women's Basketball Committee. He hasalso served as the Southeast Regional Ranking Selection CommitteeChairman, the Southeast Regional representative for the WBCA NCAADivision II National Coach of the Year, and has been a member ofboth the NCAA Division II and the NCAA Division III ConferenceCaptains Legislative Committee. Coach Walsh has also coached in the USA Athletics Internationalorganization during the summer months, including having coachedteams in Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Germany, Holland and Italy,winning four championships and compiling an amazing record of 33-1(.971) overall. Walsh, who received his Bachelor of Arts degree from MaryvilleCollege in 1989, was a four-year letter winner on the men'sbasketball team. He currently holds two school records at Maryvillefor field goal percentage in a season (65.8 percent) and field goalpercentage in a career (60.1 percent). "Dean is a family man, a very strong Christian man withintegrity," committed Head Coach Rick Reeves at the time of hishiring. "His primary duties will be recruiting and working with thepost players, which we have a lot of young players at that positionnow. We are very fortunate to have him join our coachingstaff." Walsh and his wife Courtney have two children inCourtlyn-Olivia and Bayden-Henry. | 