Northwestern University Athletics
Popovec Elevated to Associate Head Coach
8/18/2021 2:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern women's basketball's Kate Popovec has been promoted to the program's associate head coach position, head coach Joe McKeown announced on Wednesday.
"Kate Popovec has been an integral part of Northwestern women's basketball as a player, an assistant, and our recruiting coordinator," said McKeown. "Her understanding of our culture, connection with our student-athletes, and passion to teach and compete make her indispensable to the momentum we've shown and the ambition we have for the future. She's a future head coach in this game, and I'm excited to have her on our bench and in our locker room impacting our Wildcats every day."
Popovec has served as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team since 2017. In the spring of 2018, she also took over responsibilities as the program's recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator. Popovec 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 before returning to Evanston.
"I am incredibly humbled and excited for the opportunity to serve as associate head coach at my alma mater," said Popovec. "It is difficult to articulate how meaningful it is to be able to continue my journey as a Wildcat in this new capacity. I have such passion for Northwestern and our student-athletes, so I'm incredibly honored to embrace this role. I would like to thank Coach McKeown, Janna Blais, Deneé Barracato, and Dr. Gragg for their continued faith and confidence in me. I truly believe there is no place like Northwestern!"
Popovec has worked primarily with forwards and centers during her time at Northwestern and has been instrumental in the development of Wildcat standouts such as Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, Abi Scheid and Abbie Wolf. A 2019 graduate, Kunaiyi-Akpanah was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and just the second player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark. Kunaiyi-Akpanah now plays professionally in Italy and recently represented her home country of Nigeria as a starter in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The pair of 2020 graduates Scheid and Wolf each earned All-Big Ten honors in 2020 as they helped lead Northwestern to its first regular season Big Ten Championship since 1990 and a program-record 26 wins.
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 who all contributed as newcomers in the Wildcats' 2021 NCAA Tournament run–as well as the incoming Class of 2025, ranked No. 10 in the country according to ESPN.
In her first season as the defensive coordinator, Popovec guided Northwestern to the best scoring defense in Big Ten Play in the 2018-19 campaign, allowing just 60.9 points per game. Then-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 has since gone on to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons (2020, 2021).
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 and after her senior campaign she 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.
"Kate Popovec has been an integral part of Northwestern women's basketball as a player, an assistant, and our recruiting coordinator," said McKeown. "Her understanding of our culture, connection with our student-athletes, and passion to teach and compete make her indispensable to the momentum we've shown and the ambition we have for the future. She's a future head coach in this game, and I'm excited to have her on our bench and in our locker room impacting our Wildcats every day."
Popovec has served as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women's basketball team since 2017. In the spring of 2018, she also took over responsibilities as the program's recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator. Popovec 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 before returning to Evanston.
"I am incredibly humbled and excited for the opportunity to serve as associate head coach at my alma mater," said Popovec. "It is difficult to articulate how meaningful it is to be able to continue my journey as a Wildcat in this new capacity. I have such passion for Northwestern and our student-athletes, so I'm incredibly honored to embrace this role. I would like to thank Coach McKeown, Janna Blais, Deneé Barracato, and Dr. Gragg for their continued faith and confidence in me. I truly believe there is no place like Northwestern!"
Popovec has worked primarily with forwards and centers during her time at Northwestern and has been instrumental in the development of Wildcat standouts such as Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, Abi Scheid and Abbie Wolf. A 2019 graduate, Kunaiyi-Akpanah was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and just the second player in program history to reach the 1,000 rebound mark. Kunaiyi-Akpanah now plays professionally in Italy and recently represented her home country of Nigeria as a starter in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The pair of 2020 graduates Scheid and Wolf each earned All-Big Ten honors in 2020 as they helped lead Northwestern to its first regular season Big Ten Championship since 1990 and a program-record 26 wins.
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 who all contributed as newcomers in the Wildcats' 2021 NCAA Tournament run–as well as the incoming Class of 2025, ranked No. 10 in the country according to ESPN.
In her first season as the defensive coordinator, Popovec guided Northwestern to the best scoring defense in Big Ten Play in the 2018-19 campaign, allowing just 60.9 points per game. Then-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 has since gone on to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons (2020, 2021).
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 and after her senior campaign she 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.
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