Andrea Gross joined Appalachian State’s women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in the spring of 2009 after having coaching stints at Colgate, IUPUI and Longwood.
  
 As the team’s recruiting coordinator, Gross was a key to bringing in highly-successful first-year players Maryah Sydnor (2011-12 SoCon Freshman of the Year), Katie Mallow and Raven Gary last season. Sydnor finished third on the team in scoring (10.1 ppg) while Mallow strung together an impressive performance in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, where she averaged 14.7 points per game in three contests. Gary started 16 of the team’s 34 games and finished third on the team in assists (66).
  
 Working primarily with the defense last season, Gross helped the Mountaineers reach the top of ther SoCon in both steals (442) and rebounding defense (35.2 per game) while ranking in the league’s top-five in four other defensive categories.
    
During the 2010-11 season, her second with the Apps, Gross helped coach the Mountaineer defense to the top field goal percentage defense mark in the SoCon (.374). Appalachian held opponents under 60 points in 14 contests during the 2010-11 campaign and held two opponents (College of Charleston and Western Carolina) under 40 points.
    
The Mountaineers finished fifth in the SoCon in scoring defense (61.5 ppg) and were even better in conference play, holding SoCon opponents to just 59.5 ppg. Gross was once again instrumental on the recruiting trail as she helped bring in a class that consisted of two prep-school players who averaged over 20 points per game and one junior-college transfer from the basketball-rich Chicago area.
  
 In her first year with the Black and Gold, Gross helped Vincent implement the defensive schemes and was in charge of coaching the “X” factors in Canesha Edwards, Courtney Freeman and Kelsey Sharkey, while also serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator. Her persistent and tireless recruiting efforts paid off as the Mountaineers brought in a highly-touted 2010-11 class that featured two junior-college transfers and three prep-school standouts that hail from Ohio and Florida.
    
Prior to coming to App State, Gross had compiled five years of coaching expereince at the Division I level. While at IUPUI, she helped lead the Jaguars to the largest season to season wins turn around in Division I in 2006-07.
    
Before coaching at IUPUI, Gross was a graduate assistant at California (Pa.) where she served on Vincent’s staff and helped the Vulcans capture the 2004 NCAA Division II national championship.
    
A native of Pueblo, Colo., Gross played at William and Mary from 1998-2002 and was a team captain during her senior year. She was named the Tribe’s defensive player of the year as a freshman and finished her career ranked third in school history in career blocks.
    
Gross earned a bachelor of arts in kinesiology and sociology from William and Mary in 2002 and completed a master’s degree in business administration from California-(Pa.) in 2004.