Purdue women's basketball head coach Sharon Versyp announced the hiring of Melanie Balcomb to the Boilermaker staff Tuesday, hiring the 33-year coaching veteran as her Senior Associate Head Coach. Balcomb adds considerable depth and experience to the coaching roster with 23 seasons of head coaching experience, including 14 at Vanderbilt and seven at Xavier.
"Melanie brings invaluable experience and knowledge of the game to our program and has a brilliant offensive mindset," said Versyp. "A proven winner with a high understanding of college dynamics, she brings incredible energy, recruiting ties from all over the country and an amazing passion for basketball. We're thrilled to have her expertise and presence join the Boilermaker family."
She's led teams to 15 NCAA Tournaments as a head coach, advancing to an Elite 8 and five Sweet 16's, while piling up 473 career victories. In addition to her head coaching experience, Balcolmb added an NCAA Championship to the resume in 2017, helping South Carolina to the national title as Directory of Offensive Analytics.
Over 14 seasons Balcomb became the winningest coach in Vanderbilt history, picking up 310 wins at an average of 22 per year. She led the Commodores to 12 straight NCAA Tournaments from 2003 to 2014, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009, and earning 14 total victories in the national tournament. She won three SEC Tournament titles, topping the conference in 2004, 2007 and 2009, and coached 19 players to All-SEC honors.
