Hocking and Froelich sweep Heart coaching honors in first seasons in roles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Earning their second Heart of America Regular Season Championship in program history, the Clarke University women's basketball team see both the head coach Adam Hocking and assistant coach Haley Froelich receive the Heart's Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year honor for the 2023-24 season.

The Pride earned a 27-1 regular season record for the best regular season in program history with the most wins, fewest losses, and best winning percentage (.964) that the women's basketball team has ever had.

Both Hocking and Froelich were in the first season of their roles as Hocking was promoted to head coach after serving as CU's assistant coach for eight seasons under two different head coaches as Clarke went to the NAIA Tournament six times, most notably last season's national championship team while Froelich was brought on board after four seasons as the Dickinson State University assistant coach.

With his Coach of the Year honor, Hocking will also be the first coach in the Heart to ever receive the Assistant Coach of the Year and Coach of the Year honor in his career after receiving the first Assistant Coach of the Year honor following the Pride's 2021-22 season where they also won the Heart Regular Season Championship.

Under this regime, Clarke's offense reach new heights as they finished the regular season averaging 81.2 points per game, with a shooting percentage of 45.0 percent, and a 38.2 three-point percentage, all the best single season marks in program history. 

The Pride received the most Heart All-Conference selections in the league with Nicole McDermott, Taylor Haase, Mya Merschman, Taylor Norris, Izzie Peterson, and Maci Kuchta while McDermott was also named the Heart's Player of the Year and was named to the All-Defense Team.

The full All-Heart release can be found here: https://clarkepride.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/releases/20240229yv64v7

The full release for McDermott's honors can be found here: https://clarkepride.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/releases/202403010gecy5

Clarke women's basketball will continue with Heart Tournament play on Saturday afternoon when they host Benedictine College for a 4:00 p.m. CT tip in the Kehl Center against the Ravens.