Army West Point Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Women's Basketball Coach
- Email:
- heather.stec@westpoint.edu
- Phone:
- 3013
Heather Stec enters her third season with the Army West Point women’s basketball team as an assistant coach for the 2020-21 campaign. Stec is the recruiting coordinator for the Black Knights and handles all aspects of on-campus visits and overnights for prospective athletes.
In her first two seasons on the staff, two separate Black Knights have received All-Patriot League recognition in Madison Hovren (2018-19) and Alisa Fallon (2019-20). Hovren was tabbed to the league’s first team 19.1 points per game and 13.1 rebounds per contest. Her 13.1 rebounds ranked fifth in the nation. Fallon was tabbed to the third after averaging 12.1 points per contest in her sophomore year. She was one of just three underclassmen to earn all-league nods. Additionally, in 2019-20 Hope Brown was named to the league’s all-freshman team.
"With the addition of Heather, I feel like we have completed an outstanding coaching staff entering the 2018-19 season," said head coach Dave Magarity upon Stec’s hiring. "Her background as a standout player both in college and professionally, combined with her extensive coaching and recruiting experience, will be invaluable moving forward."
Stec joined the West Point coaching staff after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant at Merrimack.
In her last season at Merrimack, Stec helped the Warriors claim 15 victories and compile the program's first NE10 winning record (11-10) since the 2004-05 campaign. The team had a strong defensive season, ranking 16th in the nation in scoring defense, holding the opposition to 57.3 points per contest. During her four years at Merrimack, the Warriors made two NE10 Tournament appearances and Stec saw seven of her players earn all-conference honors, including the 2018 conference rookie of the year.
Prior to arriving at Merrimack, Stec spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Springfield College, where she helped the team achieve a 13-win turnaround from 2012-13 to 2013-14 and become the lowest seed to ever win the NEWMAC Tournament. The tournament victory was the program's first since 2006 and the team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Stec also had a stint as an assistant coach at Cazenovia College for the 2011-12 season as well as with several international teams in the Netherlands and Denmark from 2009-11.
As a player, Stec had a solid career at Siena College, where she averaged a team-best 13.9 ppg as a captain in her senior season. Following her collegiate career, she went overseas and played two seasons professionally in Europe, including stops with the Horsholm 79ers (Denmark) and Stol Grasshoppers (Netherlands).
With the 79ers, she was tabbed the Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, Import of the Year and received first team all-league honors en route to a national championship. As a key cog on the Grasshoppers, Stec was named the Defensive Player of the Year and earned first team all-league recognition.
Stec graduated from Siena in 2009 with a bachelor's in Biology before completing her Master's in Athletic Counseling at Springfield in 2014.
