AMES, Iowa- Billy Fennelly has been named the Director of Player Development for Iowa State women's basketball, ISU Senior Associate Athletics Director Calli Sanders announced Friday.
Fennelly will coordinate ISU video operations for player development, work with student-athletes on life skill development and will be involved with community outreach. His responsibilities will also include assisting with on-campus recruiting activities, serving as the liaison for other department units, such as marketing, academic services and equipment, and the oversight of Iowa State's women's basketball social media.
“We are thrilled to have Billy Fennelly join our women's basketball staff in this important role,” Sanders said. “He has an impressive resume of work with highly successful college basketball coaches and obviously has grown up with a deep knowledge and understanding of Iowa State women's basketball. We feel the combination of his affinity for Iowa State and his experience working with other highly-accomplished coaches makes him a great fit for our program.”
Fennelly has spent the last two years as the director of basketball operations on Joe McKeown's women's basketball staff at Northwestern University. In 2009-10, he saw the Wildcats double their winning total from the previous season for an 18-15 overall record and the third biggest turnaround by a BCS team last season. NU also made the round of 16 in the Women's National Invitational Tournament, the first time in 13 years the Wildcats advanced to postseason play.
Prior to his time at Northwestern, Fennelly spent one season on Brenda Frese's staff at the University of Maryland. During the 2007-08 season, he served as the administrative assistant to the recruiting coordinator, in a season where the Terrapins finished 33-4 and advanced to the NCAA Regional Final.
“It's been a dream of mine to work with my dad and I am excited to have the opportunity to sit on the bench with him again,” Fennelly said. “Lyndsey and I are very excited to come back to Ames and Iowa State since it is such a special place to both of us. I believe the experience I've gotten working in three BCS conferences over the past four years has given me the confidence to take this position with a program that has had some of its greatest success in school history over the past two seasons.”
Fennelly previously spent three seasons on his father's staff, serving as a team manager for the Cyclones from 2004 to 2007. He is married to former ISU point guard Lyndsey Medders.
