Newly hired Georgia State women’s basketball coach Gene Hill added to the Panther basketball family recently when he added his assistant coaches to the staff. Hill added three new coaches to the staff, A.G Hall, Katie Pate and Tiffany Morton.
Pate has over 20 years of coaching experience under her belt. She has coached at several different schools prior to her stint at Georgia State back in 2014. Pate returns to Georgia State after a stint at Marshall where she served as the associate head coach.
Pate has over 100 wins as a head coach. She has coached at Division- II Lenoir-Rhyne. While there, she was also an assistant and recruiting coordinator. She helped Lenoir-Rhyne reach back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Pate has also had head coaching stints at Coker College and Belmont-Abbey College.
“The opportunity to reunite with Katie Pate once again was too great to pass on. I have known her for over 20 years, and her experience as a former head coach including her recruiting connections in the southeast will help our program immediately,’ Hill said. “She will be a great teacher, mentor and role model for our players.”
One of the things that made Hill such a good hire was his connections with the state of Georgia. And that is something he made sure was accurate with his coaching staff.
“Having a coaching staff that is well-known in the area and well-respected by local AAU and high school coaches is essential. I wanted a coaching staff that was well-connected in the Atlanta, but it was also important for me to hire great people,” Hill said. “All three of these coaches check those boxes.”
Morton comes to Georgia State from Mercer where she spent the past three seasons there as an assistant coach. Morton helped lead the Bears to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Before Mercer, Morton was an assistant at Wagner and Montevallo. She served as a graduate assistant at LSU and Wisconsin-Whitewater. Morton will be an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Panthers.
“Tiffany Morton’s name just kept coming up when talking to high school and AAU coaches about who some of the top young assistant coaches are,’ Hill said. “She is a tremendous recruiter and her ability to relate to today’s players will be a valuable asset to our staff. She will lead our recruiting efforts as well as assist with coaching our wing players.”
Hall has over 17 years of coaching experience. His most recent stop was at North Carolina Central, which was his second stop with the school. North Carolina Central is Hall’s alma mater. Hall was also a head coach at Winston -Salem. He also has experience from stops at Providence, Clemson and Bethune-Cookman.
“A.G. Hall and I go back for over 18 years. He’s been a head coach and has coached at every level from D2, Mid-major to Power-5,” Hill said. “He is a family person and his knowledge of the game, and my respect for his ability to teach and to develop players will be a great fit for our program.”
All three of these coaches have experience recruiting, which will be vital in turning the program around. They have already hit the recruiting trail, not even two weeks on the job.
