Jeff Dow enters his fifth season as the head coach of the IUP women's basketball program after leading the Crimson Hawks to a record of 23-7, 17-5 in the PSAC, and an appearance in the Atlantic Region Semifinals a season ago.
Already one of the most successful coaches in IUP history, Dow has a record of 85-31 and has led the Crimson Hawks to four consecutive PSAC tournament appearances during his tenure. Last season, Dow led IUP to the PSAC Semifinals for the first time since 2008-09.
In 2010-11, Dow led the Crimson Hawks to a record of 19-8, 11-3 in the PSAC West and an appearance in the PSAC Quarterfinals. Statistically IUP led the PSAC in scoring defense at 56.0 points per game and were ranked 19th in the country in that category. The Crimson Hawks also led the PSAC in turnover margin and finished 4th nationally for that statistic.
Under the guidance of Dow, three Crimson Hawks received All-PSAC recognition honors in 2010-11 for the first time in their careers. Senior guard Lacey Claar was named All-PSAC West first team, senior forward Eryn Withers All-PSAC West second team, and sophomore forward Sarah Pastorek was named to the All-PSAC West second team after being named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in the 2009-10 season.
In 2009-10, the Crimson Hawks finished with a record of 17-10 and were third in the PSAC West with a 10-4 division record. Half of the 10 defeats came at the hands of teams ranked in the Top 25 in the nation, including a pair to No. 1 and national semifinalist Gannon and three to perennial national power California.
Among the players Dow added to the program in the 2009-10 season were Pastorek, who was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year and was one of 10 players named to the Division II Freshman All-America team.
In his first season in 2008-09, Dow set a record for most wins by a first-year IUP head coach, leading the Crimson Hawks to a record of 26-6 and their third straight PSAC championship. With a victory over Johnson C. Smith in the opening round of the NCAA tournament he became one of only five Division II coaches to win at least one postseason game in each season between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
The Crimson Hawks were ranked as high as seventh in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national poll and finished the year at No. 19. IUP ranked in the top 25 in the nation in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, scoring margin, turnover margin, turnovers forced per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Crimson Hawks allowed only 52.4 points per game to set a school record and finish sixth in the country in that category.
Under Dow's guidance, Tracey earned her second consecutive berth on the WBCA All-America team, marking the fourth consecutive year that Dow has coached a different player to All-America status.
The IUP women's team also starred academically, posting a 3.26 cumulative grade point average for the 2008-09 school year. Six players earned spots on the PSAC Scholar-Athlete list and senior Kylie Miller was chosen the 2009 IUP Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Dow came to IUP from Anderson where he had a record of 79-17 and his teams earned trips to the East Region tournament each season. Including his three-year record at IUP, Dow has an overall mark of 141-41 (.775) over the past six years (84-18 in conference) with four NCAA tournament appearances, two regular season and two postseason tournament titles during that span. Over the past six years Dow has also scheduled exhibition games with several high level Division I opponents including UCONN, Duke, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech.
In nine seasons as a head coach overall, including two at Texas A&M-Kingsville and one at Texas-San Antonio, Dow has a record of 175-90. In Dow's final season at Anderson in 2007-08, the Trojans were 28-4, won the Conference Carolinas regular season title for the second time in three years and defeated Fairmont State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Anderson finished the year in the top 10 in the country in won-loss percentage, scoring defense, rebound margin and scoring margin and was ranked as high as No. 12 in the WBCA national poll before finishing the year at No. 19. For his team's accomplishments, Dow was selected the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year.
The Trojans were the only team in the region and one of just eight in the nation to win a first round NCAA game in each of Dow's three seasons. During that time, Anderson had a record of 52-8 in Conference Carolinas regular season play, won 40 of 42 home games and advanced to the conference tournament final each year, winning the league title in 2006. Off the floor senior Kim Hausman was named the Murphy Osborne Award Recipient in 2006-07as Anderson’s Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete.
Anderson also had 20-win campaigns in 2005-06 (27-5) and 2006-07 (24-8). Among the standouts Dow coached were Deidra Langston, the 2007 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year, and Nikki Anthony, who was named the league's top player in 2008. Langston, Anthony and LaShonda Chiles were All-East Region first team selections and received All-America honors during their careers. Chiles was recognized in Dow's first season at Anderson in 2005-06 after finishing third in the nation in scoring. Dow’s 2005-06 squad led the nation in scoring with 83.5 points per game.
Dow had previous head coaching experience at Texas A&M-Kingsville (1990-92) and University of Texas-San Antonio (1999-00). At Kingsville in 1990-91 he led the Javelinas to a third place finish and a berth in the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference tournament after the team was picked to finish last in the preseason coaches’ poll.
Dow also has extensive experience on the Division I level as the first assistant at four schools. In 12 seasons at New Mexico State (1992-96), University of California-Irvine (1996-99), Santa Clara (2000-02) and Colorado State (2002-06), he helped teams earn an overall record of 218-134, a 122-65 mark in conference games and six 20-win seasons.
His teams made five postseason appearances, including four trips to the National Invitation Tournament and a berth in the 2001-02 NCAA tournament with Santa Clara. Dow was part of staffs that won a pair of regular season conference titles, including 1994-95 at New Mexico State and 2000-01 at Santa Clara.
A native of Medford, OR, Dow earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and physical education from the University of Oregon in 1988 and a master of science from the same school three years later. He stayed at his alma mater at the start of his coaching career, serving as a graduate assistant with the Ducks during the 1989-90 season.
Dow and his wife, the former Emily Vetere, were married in May 2010.
Updated on 9/18/12
