Welcome Coach Tracey!

What a thrilling week for Lady ‘Saders hoops! Those of us directly involved or in the know in the hiring process know that the hiring of Tracey Dorow is a grand slam. While everyone was disappointed with the way things went down with Keith, our spirits are lifted by this fantastic hire. She WILL be a winner at VU, you can book that. I would have loved to have shared info on her earlier here on the board, but I was supposed to keep things hush-hush. My guy was right on the money from day one. I will be giving you a full analysis in due time, but in the meantime, check out this great background info on our new head coach.

The Ferris State University women’s basketball program tipped off a new era when Tracey Dorow was named head coach prior to the 1998-99 season. The Bulldogs responded by posting an 18-10 record and tying a school record for victories during her first season at the helm.

She enters the 2011-12 campaign now in her 14th season at the helm.

During the 1999-2000 campaign, Dorow led FSU to a 22-7 mark and the school’s first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. In addition, the squad also posted the nation’s top grade point average at the NCAA Division II level.

In 2003-04, Dorow’s squad reached the NCAA-II Tournament for the second time in school history and placed second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (GLIAC) North Division with a 21-10 overall record. She led FSU to the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen during the 2006-07 season. She holds more victories and a better winning percentage than any previous coach in Bulldog women’s basketball history.

Dorow, who represents the fifth head coach in the program’s history, spent the 1997-98 season as a graduate assistant coach for the University of Indianapolis, a NCAA Division II institution which participates in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Prior to Indianapolis, Dorow spent three years as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Mich. She helped guide the Indians to a 69-22 record from 1994-97, including two Western Collegiate Conference titles, a fourth-place finish in the 1997 NJCAA National Tournament, and a No. 1 national ranking in February 1997.

During her collegiate cage career, Dorow played two years with NCAA Division I Illinois State University (1990-92) and one with NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University (1993-94). She led ISU in assists while finishing seventh in the Gateway Conference in 1991-92. Dorow earned “Newcomer of the Year” and “Best Defensive Player” honors at NMU under head coach Mike Geary.

In 1993, Dorow coached an AAU 16-and-under girl’s team that won th e Michigan State Tournament and advanced to the AAU Nationals. She and former Bulldog player Tianna Kirkland traveled to the Czech Republic in 2001 as part of the Athletes in Action contingent, the sports ministry program of Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Dorow was a two-time all-state and academic all-state selection at St. Joseph (Mich.) High School. She was also named to the Class B All-Decade team in 1989 and finished third in Michigan’s “Miss Basketball” voting.

Dorow earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Western Michigan University in 1996 and is currently working on a master’s degree in organizational leadership at the University of Indianapolis.

A member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, Dorow is certified as a recruiter by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Tracey and her husband, Rob Dorow of Pittsburgh, Pa., were married on Aug. 11, 2007. The couple has two children, Lainie and Baxter.