Former director of basketball of operations Kate Dempsey was promoted to assistant coach in October of 2015 after spending a season as the director of operations.
The former student-athlete gained valuable expertise and experience at Wofford, a professional basketball player in Portugal and as Appalachian's director of operations since December, will oversee the development of the Mountaineers' post players while also assisting in recruiting.
“Kate Dempsey joined our program in December and has been a natural fit since day one,” mentioned Elderkin. “Her passion for building relationships with student-athletes shines through in every capacity. We are excited about her knowledge and experience as a former player to help mentor our veteran group of post players this season.”
“After spending a season working in the operations role at App State, I am beyond excited with the direction that this program is going,” Dempsey said. “I have complete trust in what we're doing and in Coach Elderkin. I am thrilled for the opportunity to move into the assistant coaching position and get on the road to find new Mountaineers. I am very grateful of Coach Elderkin's trust in me and I look forward to bringing App to the top of the Sun Belt.”
Dempsey's development of the posts didn't go unnoticed while she continues to recruit future Mountaineers. Plummer posted a historic season in which she set
the single-season rebouding record with 463 boards, while she was sixth in the country in rebounds per game and fourth in total boards. She was just the
eighth player in Sun Belt history to lead the league in rebounding in back-to-back seasons and the first to do so since Chastity Gooch in 2012-13. Plummer
is just 10 rebounds shy of becoming the third player with Valorie Whiteside and Anna Freeman to reach the 1,000-career rebound milestone.
App State proved to be one of the top rebounding teams in the country with the Mountaineers ranking 14th in rebounds per game (42.7) and 42nd in rebounding
margin at plus-5.7. The Apps were third in rebounds per game and rebounding margin in the Sun Belt.
Dempsey is the Black and Gold recruiting coordinator, looking for future Mountaineers. She's played a pivotal role in helping bring in the classes that helped App post a
22-win season and a WBI championship. Three players in Lainey Gosnell, Pre Stanley and Tierra Wilson are on pace to become 1,000-point scorers. Dempsey has also helped the Apps go international, as five students from four different countries in the past two seasons sign with the Black and Gold, which is first in the Sun Belt.
In the fourth season as the assistant and position coach for the posts, Dempsey helped with the breakout campaign of Bayley Plummer, who was a Third-Team All-Sun Belt and Second-Team All-NCCSIA selection. Plummer's 11.5 rpg was first in the Sun Belt and 13th in the nation, while her 13 double-doubles tied a conference high. The sophomore center set the mark for rebounds in a season by a sophomore with 355, surpassing the previous record of 328 set by Valorie Whiteside (1985-86). Plummer's rebounding clip was the highest by a Mountaineer since Shannon Thomas (1990-91; 12.0 rpg) and the highest in the Sun Belt since Travesa Grant of Lamar (1993-94; 13.2 rpg).
Plummer wasn't the only post that showed growth, as Maya Calder came along during the season, doubling her production in conference play averaging 4.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in 16 minutes of action coming off the bench. Calder was the other Mountaineer besides Plummer to post a double-double thanks to a career high of 15 points and 10 rebounds at Troy. The freshman shot a team-high 61 percent, while she averaged 11.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per 40 minutes in league action.
Appalachian posted the third-highest rebounding margin in the Sun Belt, while during conference play, the Mountaineers posted a plus-5.4 rebounding edge and their 14.3 offensive rebounds per game were third in the league.
Dempsey continued to develop the posts in her second season, where she helped Ashley Bassett-Smith put up career numbers in points, rebounds, and field goal percentage. Bassett-Smith became the second player (KeKe Cooper) since Dempsey joined the staff to rank in the top five in all-time blocks (3rd - 141).
The second-year assistant also helped freshmen Bayley Plummer and Armani Hampton become viable options off the bench. Plummer ranked in the top 15 in the Sun Belt in rebounding during conference play and second amongst freshmen. In addition, Plummer finished second on the team in blocked shots.
The Mountaineers once again finished as one of the top rebounding teams in the league, finishing second only to Troy in rebounds per game, while averaging the third most offensive rebounds per game at 15.1. They also ranked fourth in offensive rebounding percentage at 36.2 percent.
In Dempsey's first season in the assistant coaching role, the posts had a solid season where the Apps were second overall in offensive rebounding, fourth in rebounding margin and third in blocked shots.
Under her assistance, Appalachian averaged at least 30 points in the paint for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Players that played the three-five position such as Bria Carter improved greatly from her first season, setting career highs averages in points and rebounds. KeKe Cooper also led the conference in field goal percentage, seventh in rebounding and fifth in blocked shots. Cooper was one of four student-athletes to rank in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage, rebounding and blocked shots.
Dempsey came to Boone in 2014 after spending one season as the director of operations at Elon University, where she helped the Phoenix to the second round of the Southern Conference tournament during the 2013-14 season.
Dempsey spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Presbyterian College before Elon. Under her guidance, the Blue Hose finished the 2011-12 season with a 14-15 overall record, including an 8-10 mark in the Big South Conference. Both records stood as Division I and Big South-era bests.
As a player, Dempsey was a four-year letterwinner at Wofford from 2005-09. After her collegiate career, Dempsey played one season professionally for the Santarém Basket Clube of Portugal.
Dempsey graduated from Williams High School in 2005 where she was a Street & Smith's All-America Honorable Mention selection twice and an Adidas All-America top-10 player as a senior.
