The Notre Dame College Falcons Women's basketball program has a new head coach as Imani Gordon takes over for Lauren Macer, who will be the top assistant at Division I Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, as announced by NDC athletic director Scott Swain on Wednesday.
Swain gave these thoughts about Gordon:
" I am excited for Imani to continue our great success that we have had with the Falcons in women's basketball, "Swain explained.
Macer agreed:
"I am excited for Imani to be the next head coach at Notre Dame College. She is constantly learning, and has a great relationship with our players. She is ready to develop the program, and continue the success that has been here throughout the years. She always had a passion for women's basketball, and for helping student-athletes grow throughout their college experience. The team is in good hands, "Macer opined.
She continued:
We have a lot of players returning (they lose Julie Kemp, and Shay Davidson from last season) and I believe Imani will do a great job preparing them for games both inside and outside of the Mountain East Conference. I wish them the best of luck, and will continue to follow their success.
Gordon talked about how excited she is to work with this group:
" I am excited to work with this group, we have a lot of girls returning. I think our girls are very familiar with me, trust me, and respect me." I am looking forward to continue working with these girls and having more success ahead."
Gordon has been the top assistant with Macer since the 2017 season. She was in charge of the forwards mainly, and was a big part of getting recruits to come to NDC before being named the Head Coach. Prior to coming to NDC Gordon was a generational player at Cleveland State who was in the top 10 in school history in points, rebounds, and free throws attempts in a season. In her best two seasons with the Vikings Gordon averaged 16.4 points, and 9.5 rebounds per game in the 2013-14 season. She scored 22 points, and eight rebounds in the post-season. Then the following year Gordon averaged 16 points- and- 6.9 rebounds before a run in which she averaged 17.3 points, and five rebounds per game in three postseason games.In total Gordon averaged 11 points, and 6.4 rebounds per game in the regular season. She then turned it up a notch in the postseason where she averaged 18.5 points, and 5.8 rebounds in four contests. She was the team MVP twice, and was part of the winningest senior class in school history in the 2014-15 season. She was first team All-Conference twice, and Second Team All-Conference once while leading the Vikings to a berth in the Women's NIT. She has a masters of Education in Sports Management, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and Crimonology from CSU. Gordon, who is 27 years old, was also named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 30 under 30 this season. The 30 under 30 program was created to recognize 30 up and coming women's basketball coaches ages 30 and under at all levels of the game. Being a 30 under 30 honoree exemplifies involvement in community service, mentorship, and impact on others.
Macer, who was also a member of that elite group of coaches, winning the award last season was the Head Coach at NDC since the 2017 season. She was the MEC Coach Of The Year in the 2019-20 season, when the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Only to have the tournament be canceled due to COVID-19. She will be the top assistant at Division I Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne under first year Head Coach Maria Marchesano. The Mastordons are a member of the Horizon League, along with Cleveland State.
With Macer as the head coach she has led Seina Adachi to be All-MEC three times (2018-20, Kim Cook also was named All-Conference First Team, along with Jada Marone this season, while Marisa Finnazo (2018-) Marone (last year-) and- Marina Adachi were named All-Conference Second Team. Jessie Stout was Honorable Mention All-Conference as well in 2020. Marone, and Adachi were both named All-Americans as well, Adachi last year, and Marone this season. The Falcons made the MEC Championship game on a pair of occasions with Macer on the bench.
Swain gave his thoughts on Macer's departure:
" I am sorry to see Lauren leave us. She has been a great coach, and wonderful friend. I know she will be highly successful in her future coaching career."
Macer, who is a graduate of Twinsburg High School, has been a part of the NDC program since 2009. She played for the Falcons from 2009-2013. She scored 1,088 points in her career. She tops the school record books in free throws made in a single season (185,) and is sixth in points per game in a season (18.2.) She was a volunteer assistant in the 2013-14 season, before becoming the graduate assistant prior to the 2014-15 campaign. She was then promoted to Assistant Coach in the 2016-17 season, before taking over the Head Coaching duties in August of 2017.
Macer talked about what a journey it has been:
" I have been part of this Falcons family for the past 12 years. I have evolved from student-athlete, to assistant head coach, and then head coach. I am thankful for the opportunity that Scott Swain and the administration at NDC gave me to lead this program at a very young age. President Pressimone has been nothing but supportive in his first year here at NDC. The best part of the school has been the people, I learned that both as a student-athlete, and a coach. The support we felt on game days was unprecedented. It made coaching in Keller a lot of fun. I will definitely miss that. It has been a great experience being the Head Coach for the past four seasons. I am thankful, and blessed for the experience that each team has given me."
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