Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Kathy Fedorjaka Awarded Contract Extension
3/11/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 11, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell head women's basketball coach Kathy Fedorjaka, who has more wins than any other coach in program history, has been awarded a four-year contract extension, director of athletics and recreation John Hardt announced Friday.
This season Fedorjaka became the longest-tenured head coach in the 32-year history of Bison women's basketball. In eight seasons she has guided Bucknell to 119 victories, including back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2000-01 and 2001-02. The latter campaign culminated with the program's first-ever Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
"Coach Fedorjaka has the University's full support in continuing to lead our women's basketball program," said Hardt. "Her competitive record within the Patriot League speaks for itself. Under her guidance, the Bison have won a Patriot League Championship and become a consistent winning program. More importantly, she has built a program that develops true scholar-athletes that are successful both on the court and in the classroom."
"I would like to thank the Bucknell administration for giving me the opportunity to bring the women's basketball program into its next era," said Fedorjaka. "With merit-based financial aid and Sojka Pavilion now firmly in place, we have the opportunity to attract the kind of student-athlete that will continue to make us successful in the Patriot League. We have a great core of talented student-athletes on our roster now, and we hope to build on that in the future."
With a 73-72 overtime victory against Lehigh on Feb. 24, 2002, Fedorjaka picked up her 78th victory as head coach of the Bison, eclipsing Lori Howard's total of 77 that she won from 1984-91, to become the all-time winningest coach in Bucknell history.
Howard, who spent seven years as the mentor of the Bison women's basketball team, gave Fedorjaka her first collegiate coaching experience during the 1990-91 campaign when Fedorjaka served as a graduate assistant for the first of her three seasons on the sidelines as an assistant coach. After earning a master's degree in education from Bucknell in 1992, the Groton, Conn., native remained as a full-time assistant before leaving to accept her first full-time head coaching position at Connecticut College in 1993. In her three years as an assistant at Bucknell, Fedorjaka helped the Bison improve from a 2-24 season in her first year (1990-91), to an 11-17 season in 1992-93 that began one of the most successful periods in the history of the program. For her contributions to Bucknell, Fedorjaka was awarded the ECAC Certificate of Merit.
Prior to her initial arrival in Lewisburg, Fedorjaka graduated from Fairfield University in 1990. While there, she was a four-year member of the basketball team and served as co-captain during her senior season when she averaged 12.7 points per game. As a sophomore in 1987-88, Fedorjaka helped lead the Stags to the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The squad also won the MAAC title that year.
During her career, Fairfield posted a sparkling 69-45 record. Fedorjaka also garnered a number of individual honors during her playing days, including being named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic Team and receiving the Fairfield Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. She was also presented the ECAC Medal of Merit Award.
Fedorjaka was named head coach of the Bloomsburg women's basketball team in 1994-95. She stayed at the helm of the Huskies for three years and amassed a 51-30 (.630) record and directed her 1996-97 team to the school's first Division II NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. Fedorjaka stands fifth in all-time victories at Bloomsburg, while her .630 winning percentage is fourth on the Huskies' career list.
Following a 1996-97 campaign when Bloomsburg posted a 20-8 record, Fedorjaka returned to Bucknell, taking over the program in August of 1997 from Juliene Simpson, who had led the Bison to a 12-14 record in 1996-97. Fedorjaka matched that mark in her first season, but in each of her next four years the Bison increased their victory total, leading to a 21-10 record in 2001-02. That same season Bucknell advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament. The unforgettable squad that was led by four of the top eight scorers in school history also posted an 11-3 mark in Patriot League play, the best in the program's 14 seasons in the conference.
 Kathy Fedorjaka led Bucknell to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002.  |
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Since taking over the Bison, Fedorjaka has climbed the charts and is now among the veterans of the Patriot League coaching ranks. She ranks second among conference coaches in career wins with 186, while her 60 league victories rank third. A member of the Patriot League coaching ranks for eight seasons, Fedorjaka is third in longevity behind only Holy Cross' Bill Gibbons (15 years) and Lehigh's Sue Troyan (10 years).
Since experiencing losses in each of her first two Patriot League Tournament contests, Fedorjaka has led Bucknell to two finals appearances and trips to the semifinals four of the last six years.
In addition to her outstanding teams, Fedorjaka has recruited and tutored many outstanding individuals. Among the most prominent have been Molly Creamer and Desire Almind. Creamer, who was the first player in school or league history to get drafted into the WNBA when she was a first-round pick of the New York Liberty with the 10th overall selection in the 2003 draft, finished her career in 2003 with 22 school records and 13 Patriot League standards to her name. The only three-time Patriot League Player of the Year, Creamer scored 2,462 points in her career and, in addition to playing with the Liberty, has played professionally in Israel and in the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL). Almind completed her four-year career in 2004 as the school's third-leading scorer and rebounder. She has played professionally in France and in the NWBL.
Led by that duo, which garnered seven all-league selections, Fedorjaka has seen her players show up on the first, second or rookie all-league teams 22 times. Fedorjaka has also tutored three of the last seven rookie of the years, including current sophomore Lindsey Hollobaugh who won the award in 2003-04.
Fedorjaka's husband, Frank, is currently the associate men's lacrosse coach at Bucknell and will become head coach next season following the retirement of Sid Jamieson. The Fedorjakas reside in Winfield, Pa., with their son Matthew, and daughter, Jamie.
