Kelley Watts was revealed as St. Joseph’s College’s head women’s basketball coach ahead of the 2015-16 season.
Watts arrives in Patchogue with decades of coaching and playing experience and most recently served as girls varsity basketball coach at Center Moriches High School since 2011. In addition to her coaching duties, Watts worked at the school as a DASA coordinator and a substitute teacher.
Prior to her work at Center Moriches, Watts spent eight years at Adelphi University as Assistant Athletic Director and head women’s basketball coach from 2002-03 to 2009-10. In 2004 she was named NIT/MET Basketball Writers Association D-II Coach of the Year and, in addition, coached three All-ECC First Team honorees, four NIT/MET Basketball All-Star Team First Team earners and two NIT/MET Basketball Writers Association D-II Players of the Year.
Previous to Adelphi, Watts served as head coach of the Merchant Marine Academy’s women’s team in its first two seasons at the NCAA Division-III level in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Watts arrived in Kings Point having previously served as an assistant at four Division-I schools: Hoftra University, Temple University, St. John’s University and the University of Virginia.
An All-American in her Bay Shore High School days, Watts was elected into the institution’s hall of fame in 2008. She would go on to play college ball at Rutgers, and in 1986, was a part of the squad that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Additionally, Watts has appeared as a guest speaker for numerous venues, instructed at several basketball camps and has volunteered with such organizations as Autism Speaks and American Heart Walk Association.
Watts—who earned an M.S. in Sport Management in 2008 from Adelphi, and a B.S. in Administration of Justice from Rutgers in 1986—currently resides in Yaphank, NY.
