Featured Image: Salem College|Courtesy
Quntashea Lewis
Before the start of the 2022-23 academic school year, Virginia Wesleyan University announced the hire of Quntashea Lewis as the new Women’s Basketball Head Coach. A native of Charlotte, N.C., Lewis had an interesting start in the sport of basketball.
“I grew up in the arts, I went to a performing arts high school that did not have sports. I didn’t play organized basketball until senior year,” Lewis said. After her senior year of high school, she played four years of college ball at Salem College in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
After college, Lewis hoped to stay in the sport of basketball but wanted to explore the other side of it, so she decided to get into coaching.
“Playing wasn’t really an option for me. My head coach at the time told me about graduate assistantships,” Lewis said. Lewis then was a graduate assistant and assistant coach at ODAC school Eastern Mennonite University from 2016-18. She then spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach at Mount Saint Mary’s College and has spent the past three seasons as the head coach of her alma mater, Salem College.
Lewis said she chose VWU because it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. The great facilities, locker room and area off-campus meant she knew she had to be here. Both Lewis and volunteer assistant coach Romona Dominguez said that not only is their goal for the team to win more than last season but to also see growth in the players from the first practice to the last.
The women’s first official game is Nov. 5 against Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md.
Marcus Curry
Starting his first year as a coach at Virginia Wesleyan University is Men’s Assistant Basketball Coach Marcus Curry. A native of Greensboro, N.C., and a 2019 graduate of ODAC school Guilford College, Curry comes to VWU after being an assistant coach at Guilford two seasons.
During his time as a player at Guilford he was first team All-ODAC for his junior and senior year. Curry was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Division III All-District Second Team and the D3hoops.com All-South Region Second Team.
During his junior year, Curry led the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game which ranked him fourth in the conference. Throughout his senior year, he again led the team in scoring with 15 points per game and had six double-doubles.
After his career, Curry knew he wanted to get into coaching so he accepted a graduate assistant position at Guilford. Curry came to VWU because he said he needed a change and he said he loves the program so far.
“I needed it in my life, a different change, more face paced, more urgency with Coach Macedo,” Curry said.
Curry mentioned his specific goals for the men’s team this year are to win the ODAC tournament and make the NCAA tournament but ultimately it’s to grow as a team.
“I just want to see this group grow as a team, because they’re so young,” said Curry. He also mentioned how he hasn’t really felt a difference being alongside Head Coach Dave Macedo rather than playing against the VWU team.
“I haven’t really noticed it, I feel like when we play Guildford it’ll hit me then,” Curry said.
The men take the court for their first official game on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. against the Royals of Regent University at TowneBank Arena.
By: Colette Kearney
cmkearney@vwu.edu
