Stephanie Del Preore Named Head Women's Basketball And Cross Country Coach

Bridgeport, CT- University of Bridgeport Director of Athletics Jay Moran announced today that Stephanie Del Preore has joined the Department of Athletics staff as the head coach of the Purple Knights' women's basketball and cross country programs.  Del Preore comes to the University of Bridgeport from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where she has worked for the past two seasons serving as an assistant women's basketball coach for the Ducks.  She also was the acting head women's basketball coach at Stevens for the final portion of last season.

Said Moran, "We are delighted to have Stephanie join the University of Bridgeport and our athletic department. She brings both knowledge and enthusiasm to both our women's basketball and cross country programs having been a top-notch Division I student-athlete plus a quality assistant coach at both the Division II and III levels.  There is no doubt in my mind that she is ready to take the next step in her career and be a successful head coach."

"I welcome the challenge of coming to an outstanding institution and athletic program like the University of Bridgeport," stated Del Preore.  "I look forward to continuing and expanding upon the successes that the programs have already achieved.  I can't wait to get started to help all the student-athletes that are members of the women's basketball and cross country programs be the best they can be in all facets of their lives."

A native of Livingston, New Jersey and a graduate of Livingston High School where she left as the school's all-time leading scorer (1,809 points) and rebounder (1,454 rebounds), Stephanie earned Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Marist College in 2004.  During her time in Poughkeepsie, she was a four-year standout for the Red Foxes' women's basketball team graduating as the program's sixth all-time leading scorer. She was also fifth in career rebounds.

In 109 games at Marist, Del Preore totaled 1,114 points and 670 rebounds, averaging 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Del Preore also shot 45.7 percent (436-for-955) from the floor, which is the tenth-best mark in school history.

While at Marist, Del Preore was named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team in 2000-01. Then, in 2003-04, she landed on the All-MAAC second-team and was named the Most Valuable Player of the conference tournament en route to leading the Red Foxes to a berth in the NCAA Tournament. On January 31, 2004 at Rider College, Del Preore scored her 1,000th career point and set a Marist single-game record with 21 rebounds.

Following her outstanding collegiate career, she signed a contract to play professionally with Club Irlandesas in Leioa, Spain.  During the 2004-05 season, Del Preore led the squad in scoring, rebounding, and minutes.

After returning to the United States, she worked as the Assistant Director at Sports University in Fairfield, N.J. from May 2005 through March 2006 where she was responsible for managing the summer camp programs and schedule. Specifically, coach Del Preore taught the fundamentals of basketball, soccer, football, and baseball to youths 3-17 years of age.

During that time, Del Preore was also the junior varsity and assistant varsity girls' basketball coach at Solomon Schechter Day School in West Orange, New Jersey.  She was then hired as the assistant women's basketball coach at Division II Caldwell College in New Jersey and worked there for one year starting in September of 2006.