STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) - Janel McCarville has been named the new Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach at Stevens Point Area High School.
“I am extremely honored and excited to be the next head girls basketball coach at SPASH. To be part of this rich tradition and culture as a coach now is truly humbling. I look forward to working with all the student-athletes, SPASH Coaches, teachers, administration, and community members that are all involved in making Stevens Point an incredible place to play girls basketball,” said McCarville.
She is a 2001 graduate of SPASH. She led the Panthers girls’ basketball team to the WIAA Division 1 State Basketball Tournament in 2001 during her senior year. After SPASH, she moved on to the University of Minnesota to continue her basketball career for the Gophers. As a member of the Gopher women’s basketball team she became the first player in Gopher history to play in the NCAA Tournament during each of her four years.
Following her playing career at Minnesota, Janel was drafted in the first round of the 2005 WNBA draft, the first pick overall, by the Charlotte Sting and started her professional playing career. Janel won a WNBA Championship in the 2013-14 season with the Minnesota Lynx. Janel also played professionally in the Euro League. She played on teams from Slovakia, Russia, Poland, Turkey, China, Italy and Sweden. She was a Euro League champion in 2010 with the Women’s Basketball Club Sparta&K of Russia.
In the fall of 2022, Janel moved back to Custer and joined the SPASH basketball coaching staff as the JV girls basketball coach
