Guth Rounds Out McKeown's 2012-13 Staff
6/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
June 8, 2012
EVANSTON, ILL.-- Head coach Joe McKeown today (June 8) announced the hiring of Allison Guth to complete his 2012-13 women's basketball staff. Guth, a 2004 graduate of Illinois, comes to Evanston by way of Yale University, where she has spent the past two seasons. In addition to her assistant coach responsibilities, Guth will serve as the Wildcats' recruiting coordinator.
"We are really excited to bring Allison on to our staff and Northwestern," McKeown said. "She brings a wealth of experience to our program, including her most recent position as recruiting coordinator at Yale. She understands the academic integrity and student-athlete concept that is so important at Northwestern. A native of the Chicago area and former student-athlete in the Big Ten, she also is a great fit for our staff. Her energy and enthusiasm will help our program immensely."
"I couldn't be more enthusiastic about my opportunity to join Coach McKeown and his staff at Northwestern University," Guth said. "Northwestern is so special in the fact that it provides a "World Class" experience academically, socially, and athletically. I am proud to hit the recruiting trail for an institution and basketball program I genuinely believe in."
Guth was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Yale for two seasons prior to coming to Evanston. She was named an assistant coach in July 2010 after two seasons as the Director of Basketball Operations for the DePaul University women's basketball team.
At Yale, Guth was in charge of coordinating all recruiting efforts for the women's basketball program as well as all game preparations and player development. She also served as a Resident Fellow for Yale's New Residence Hall (Swing Space), where she was charged with being a mentor to the students who lived there.
In her two seasons in New Haven, Guth was instrumental in Yale's resurgence as a contender for the Ivy League championship and helped guide the Bulldogs to their best two-year record in 18 years, when the Bulldogs finished 15-11 in 1992-93 and 16-10 in 1993-94, and the most Ivy League wins in a two-year span (18; 10-4 in 2010-11, 8-6 in 2011-12) in the program's history.
During her time at Yale, Guth coached two players who will compete on the international level in junior Megan Vasquez, who will attempt to help Puerto Rico qualify for the 2012 Olympics later in June, and sophomore Janna Graf, who will compete for Germany's U-20 squad in the European Championships. Guth's tenure also included Yale's 17th 1,000-point scorer in Vasquez, who reached the mark on Feb. 10, 2012.
Guth coached two All-Ivy League First Team honorees (Vasquez in 2010-11 and 2011-12), an All-Ivy Rookie of the Year (Sarah Halejian, 2011-12), an All-Ivy Second Team honoree (Mady Gobrecht, 2010-11), two All-Ivy Honorable Mention players (Michelle Cashen in 2010-11 and 2011-12) and an All-Ivy Rookie Team honoree (Graf, 2010-11).
Guth helped lead the Bulldogs to a 14-15 finish in 2010-11, which included a second-place 10-4 finish in the Ivy League standings, Yale's first sweep of Harvard since 1993-94 and the program's first-ever appearance in the WNIT. Yale finished tied for second in the Ivy League with Harvard, with both teams closing the season with identical 10-4 records in League play. It was Yale's highest finish in the Ivy League standings since the 1988-89 season, the only other season that Yale finished Ivy play with a 10-4 mark. Yale earned the Ivy's automatic berth in the WNIT by sweeping Harvard during the regular season for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
Guth was also a key factor in Yale's 16-12 finish in 2011-12, which was the most wins in the program's history since 1993-94 and just the third time the program had completed a season with 16 or more victories. Yale finished the season with an 8-6 mark in Ivy League play and went into the final game of the season with a chance to lock up second place in the Ivy League standings for a return to the WNIT.
During her time at DePaul, Guth handled the Doug Bruno Basketball summer camps, video exchange, scouting and was involved in all on-campus recruiting. She helped DePaul reach the Big East and NCAA tournaments both seasons in Chicago.
Guth was a Missouri assistant coach and helped with recruiting for the 2007-08 season. The Tigers pulled off one of the nation's biggest victories with a win over Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the first time in Big 12 history that a 12th seed defeated a No. 5 seed.
Guth, who led Buffalo Grove (Illinois) High School to the 2000 Class AA State title, started her coaching career as an assistant at Loyola-Chicago from 2005-07. She also served as recruiting coordinator with the Ramblers and worked with backcourt players.
The three-time letterwinner at Illinois, Guth helped the Illini reach the 2003 NCAA Tournament after earning a spot as a walk-on and then earning a scholarship. Guth, an Academic All-Big Ten selection, also played a season with the Illinois women's golf team before graduating in 2004. She earned a bachelor of science degree in business before getting her master's degree in educational leadership from DePaul in 2010.
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