| Natasha Adair |
|
|
Natasha Adair begins her fourth season with the Wake Forest women's basketball team and her first as the Associate Head Coach and recruiting coordinator.
"I'm thrilled that Coach Petersen respects my abilities as a women's basketball coach," Adair said. "The promotion to associate head coach will bring about exciting new challenges and opportunities. I'm really excited about next season and our growth will show on different levels. We are more mature and more experienced and we're ready to get it done."
Adair's responsibility include the development of the post players and is also responsible for the schedule and serves as the recruiting coordinator for the program.
Adair has helped guide numerous players to successful collegiate careers. Most recently, Adair saw rookie Mekia Valentine break the freshman single-season record with 50 blocks andsubsequently was named to the ACC All-Freshman team. She also helped guide sophomore guard Yolanda Lavender to an All-ACC Honorable Mention accolade this past year. Lavender concluded the year as the third-leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 17.0 points per game.
Under Adair's guidance at Wake Forest, the Deacs have had a student-athlete earn conferene honors each year including Liz Strunk, a two-time second team selection and Cotelia Bond-Young, a two-time third team selection.
Adair also helped recruit last year's freshman class that was ranked No. 19 in the nation by Mike Flynn of the Blue Star Report.
Adair came to Wake Forest after six seasons as an assistant coach at Georgetown. Similar to her position with the Demon Deacons, Adair was primarily responsible for the Georgetown post players. She was instrumental in the development of Georgetown All-American Rebekkah Brunson, who was selected with the 10th overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Sacramento Monarchs. Along with her on-court duties, Adair oversaw the academic enrichment program for student-athletes and was also involved with the recruiting efforts and conditioning program.
Adair, a native of Washington D.C., went on to Pensacola Junior College before completing her college career at the University of South Florida. She graduated from USF in 1994 with a bachelor of arts in communications. Adair completed her associate degree from Pensacola J.C. in 1992 and was the women's basketball team's leading rebounder.
While at South Florida, she played both power forward and center, serving as the team captain during the 1993-94 season. Adair led the team in rebounding with 12.5 rebounds per game that season. As a senior, she led the team in double-doubles and finished third in the Metro Conference in rebounding.
At South Florida, Adair was a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and served as the organization's community representative, speaking to Boy's and Girl's Clubs and also leading a Feed the Homeless Campaign.
Prior to being named an assistant coach at Georgetown in August of 1998, Adair served as the assistant director of the Athletic Association at South Florida. In that capacity, she was responsible with fundraising for scholarships and served as a liaison for the school's Title IX committee. During her tenure within the USF athletic department, Adair chaired the annual scholarship auction and also served as the athletic department's United Way representative.
For several years, Adair has been an active member of the Black Coaches Association, which has been an instrumental part of her success at the collegiate level.
Adair and her husband, Aaron, have been married for seven years and have a 10-year-old son, Aaron Michael Adair, and a two-year-old daughter, Allyssa Michelle.
