Women's Basketball
Popovec, Kate
Kate Popovec
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Popovec was named the associate head coach of the Wildcats in August of 2021.
A former Wildcat student-athlete, Kate Popovec started her career as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team in 2017. In the spring of 2018, Popovec was named both the Recruiting Coordinator and the Defensive Coordinator.
Popovec works primarily with forwards and centers and was instrumental in the growth of Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah. The 2019 graduate was a two-time All-Big Ten selection (First Team in '19), and just the second player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark. Kunaiyi-Akpanah went on to play professionally in Italy. Kunaiyi-Akpanah also represented her home country, Nigeria, in the 2020 Olympics, as well as winning the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket with the Nigerian National Team in 2021. Popovec also coached Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid through the Wildcat's regular season Big Ten Championship in 2019-20. Scheid was named to the All Big Ten First Team in the post-season and finished her career with 1,146 points. She finished second in the nation in 3PT% (47.7%) her final year as a Wildcat. Wolf was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten her senior season. She went on to play professionally in Spain, spending her first year overseas with Club Deportivo Zamarat. She now plays for Barça CBS in Barcelona.
In her first season as the defensive coordinator, she guided Northwestern to the best scoring defense in Big Ten Play in the 2018-19 campaign, allowing just 60.9 points per game. In the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats led the Big Ten in forced turnovers a game (20.7) and were second in the Big Ten in steals (11.48 per game). Nationally, the ‘Cats ranked 9th in steals and 14th in forced turnovers that year.
In her first year, guard Veronica Burton led the league in steals with 2.6 per game, while the team finished the season forcing over 16 turnovers per contest. Burton went on to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore campaign, leading the conference in steals (100). Following the 2020-21 season, Burton led the nation in steals per game (3.84) and total steals on the year (96). She was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row as a junior.
As the recruiting coordinator, Popovec oversees all facets of recruiting organization. She helped bring in the Class of 2024, featuring Paige Mott, Anna Morris and Jasmine McWilliams. Morris is a five star recruit with scout's grade of 96 according to ESPN, ranking 11th at her position and in the top-50 overall for her class.
She also oversaw the recruitment of the Class of 2025, ranked No. 10 in the country according to ESPN, the second highest ranking in the Big Ten. The class includes Hailey Weaver, Jillian Brown, Mel Daley, Caileigh Walsh and Mercy Ademusayo. ESPN ranked Weaver as No. 35 recruit overall while Brown came in at No. 50.
Popovec had previously served as Director of Player Development for the Wildcats from 2014-16. She was then hired as an assistant coach at Colgate, a position she held during the 2016-17 season. During her tenure as Director of Player Development, the Wildcats made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1997 in the 2015 season.
In the summer of 2021, Popovec was invited to the prestigious 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium presented by Teamworks and INLCR. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7) identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major Athletic Directors providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
Prior to coaching, Popovec attended and played at Northwestern from 2011-13 during her junior and senior years after transferring from Pittsburgh. She earned Academic All-Big Ten honors each season at Northwestern.
Following her senior campaign, Popovec was chosen as Northwestern's female recipient of the 2013 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship award. She was also named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar after the 2012-13 season.
Since June of 2020, Popovec has served as the secretary of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in memory of her late niece, Melina Michelle Edenfield. Melina passed away after a 32 battle with a Diffuse Midline Glioma, a very aggressive brain tumor most commonly found in children. All funds raised by MMEF go directly toward pediatric brain tumor and cancer research. Popovec is engaged to Oliver Goss.
A former Wildcat student-athlete, Kate Popovec started her career as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team in 2017. In the spring of 2018, Popovec was named both the Recruiting Coordinator and the Defensive Coordinator.
Popovec works primarily with forwards and centers and was instrumental in the growth of Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah. The 2019 graduate was a two-time All-Big Ten selection (First Team in '19), and just the second player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark. Kunaiyi-Akpanah went on to play professionally in Italy. Kunaiyi-Akpanah also represented her home country, Nigeria, in the 2020 Olympics, as well as winning the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket with the Nigerian National Team in 2021. Popovec also coached Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid through the Wildcat's regular season Big Ten Championship in 2019-20. Scheid was named to the All Big Ten First Team in the post-season and finished her career with 1,146 points. She finished second in the nation in 3PT% (47.7%) her final year as a Wildcat. Wolf was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten her senior season. She went on to play professionally in Spain, spending her first year overseas with Club Deportivo Zamarat. She now plays for Barça CBS in Barcelona.
In her first season as the defensive coordinator, she guided Northwestern to the best scoring defense in Big Ten Play in the 2018-19 campaign, allowing just 60.9 points per game. In the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats led the Big Ten in forced turnovers a game (20.7) and were second in the Big Ten in steals (11.48 per game). Nationally, the ‘Cats ranked 9th in steals and 14th in forced turnovers that year.
In her first year, guard Veronica Burton led the league in steals with 2.6 per game, while the team finished the season forcing over 16 turnovers per contest. Burton went on to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore campaign, leading the conference in steals (100). Following the 2020-21 season, Burton led the nation in steals per game (3.84) and total steals on the year (96). She was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row as a junior.
As the recruiting coordinator, Popovec oversees all facets of recruiting organization. She helped bring in the Class of 2024, featuring Paige Mott, Anna Morris and Jasmine McWilliams. Morris is a five star recruit with scout's grade of 96 according to ESPN, ranking 11th at her position and in the top-50 overall for her class.
She also oversaw the recruitment of the Class of 2025, ranked No. 10 in the country according to ESPN, the second highest ranking in the Big Ten. The class includes Hailey Weaver, Jillian Brown, Mel Daley, Caileigh Walsh and Mercy Ademusayo. ESPN ranked Weaver as No. 35 recruit overall while Brown came in at No. 50.
Popovec had previously served as Director of Player Development for the Wildcats from 2014-16. She was then hired as an assistant coach at Colgate, a position she held during the 2016-17 season. During her tenure as Director of Player Development, the Wildcats made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1997 in the 2015 season.
In the summer of 2021, Popovec was invited to the prestigious 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium presented by Teamworks and INLCR. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7) identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major Athletic Directors providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
Prior to coaching, Popovec attended and played at Northwestern from 2011-13 during her junior and senior years after transferring from Pittsburgh. She earned Academic All-Big Ten honors each season at Northwestern.
Following her senior campaign, Popovec was chosen as Northwestern's female recipient of the 2013 Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship award. She was also named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar after the 2012-13 season.
Since June of 2020, Popovec has served as the secretary of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in memory of her late niece, Melina Michelle Edenfield. Melina passed away after a 32 battle with a Diffuse Midline Glioma, a very aggressive brain tumor most commonly found in children. All funds raised by MMEF go directly toward pediatric brain tumor and cancer research. Popovec is engaged to Oliver Goss.
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