FAIRFAX, Va. — When Lola Mullaney accepted her first coaching position this summer at Monmouth, it took her back to her roots in several ways.
The Rumson, N.J., native is living back home with her parents, only a 15-minute drive from the Hawks’ gym in West Long Branch. Growing up, she played with or against several players who are now on the Hawks’ roster, including graduate student guard Kemari Reynolds, who was her AAU teammate in middle school. And Mullaney opened her coaching career against Yale and Brown, two programs she knows extremely well from her playing career at Harvard.
It makes sense, then, that Mullaney is thriving, even amid all the newness of graduating from college in the spring, retiring from basketball and starting her coaching career.
“Every time I talk to her, she is just having the time of her life,” Harvard head coach Carrie Moore told reporters in October. “… [She] seems to have grown up overnight.”
Mullaney wasn’t always sure she wanted to coach right after college. She considered playing overseas and would’ve had plenty of opportunities after her decorated college career. She was named to four all-Ivy teams — two second-team selections and two honorable mentions — and ranks third in Ivy League history with 278 career 3-pointers. As a senior last season, she averaged 13.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
But with encouragement from her Harvard coaches, Mullaney applied for and was accepted into the WBCA’s “So You Want to Be a Coach” program. The two-day program at the Final Four provides professional development and networking opportunities for aspiring coaches.
“When I went, I kind of just knew after hearing from all different coaches from different levels,” Mullaney told The Next on Tuesday after Monmouth’s loss at George Mason. “… I felt really passionate about [coaching] and decided I didn’t want to play overseas.”
She considered becoming a graduate assistant, which is a common entry point into the profession. But Moore is friends with Cait Wetmore, who got her first head coaching job at Monmouth in April and needed to hire an entire staff. Moore suggested that Wetmore talk to Mullaney, and the two had a strong rapport from their first phone call.
“I just felt really connected to her,” Mullaney said of Wetmore. “I really valued what she valued, and it just seemed like we kind of aligned on a lot of things. And I just wanted this opportunity to be one of her first assistants, too, and grow together and start the journey together.”
“I could tell that she was really smart and just sharp,” Wetmore told The Next on Tuesday. “And [she] knew the area, which was important because I’m not from the [Jersey] Shore, and the Shore is a different place in Jersey. So she really had a pulse for the Shore basketball, and I thought that was really valuable.”
Mullaney was ultimately hired as the Hawks’ director of player development and an assistant coach, and Wetmore said she has hit the ground running. “She just has come into all of it with such eagerness and excitement and open arms,” Wetmore said. “And she’s so smart. She just figures things out.”
Despite being the youngest member of the staff, Mullaney isn’t afraid to share ideas in coaches’ meetings. Being so close in age to the players also helps her be “a bridge,” as Wetmore put it, between them and the rest of the staff.
“Having somebody that’s closer to their age, who’s been through it before at a high level and done it really well, to be able to kind of talk to them about what it takes — and she went through a coaching change in her career as well,” Wetmore said. “… So I think that’s been really valuable for her to kind of explain to them, ‘If you buy into the change, great things can happen, and here’s how I did it.’”
Monmouth has struggled so far this season, losing its first three games. But Wetmore has a track record of winning conference championships as the associate head coach at Charlotte and UNC Greensboro. She describes herself as an offensive-minded coach, and her long-term vision is for the Hawks to play fast on both ends, scoring in transition and pressing on defense.
That system hasn’t felt like a huge change for Mullaney from what she was used to at Harvard under Moore. The rhythm of game days also reminds her of being a player.
“There’s still those nerves before the game, or excitement,” Mullaney said. “… You’re doing the same preparation almost, just a little bit different. Obviously, as a player, you don’t scout, but it feels similar just going through pregame talks and stuff like that.”
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Practices are even more like what Mullaney experienced as a player. She participates in every drill and plays on the scout team, standing in for the best perimeter player on the opposing team.
“She gives [our players] the business still,” Wetmore said.
“I definitely mess with them a lot and talk a little smack — try to fire them up,” Mullaney added. “And they do it back. But I think [I] just try to make practices fun for them. Obviously, some of them are the same age as me, if not older, so that dynamic is interesting.”
When she’s not going head-to-head with them, Mullaney works most closely with the wings and perimeter shooters. The process of helping them improve individually, whether on the court or through film, is her favorite part of coaching so far.
However, she also does many other things for the Hawks, including clipping film, teaching the male practice players on the scout team what to run, tracking statistics from practices and games, ordering gear, and recruiting. Though she hasn’t gone on the road recruiting over the summer yet, she’s started talking to younger high schoolers on the phone and attending local open gyms, including at her alma mater, Manasquan High School.
“It’s important for a school like us to know our backyard and kind of know the lay of the land, and she’s got great ties,” Wetmore said. “Everybody that’s there remembers her from when she was young and training, and everyone says amazing things about her. … So a lot of people are excited to send their kids to Monmouth and have us recruit them because they know they’d be in good hands with somebody like Lola around.”
Mullaney has also helped with scouting reports, especially for the Hawks’ Ivy League opponents. She remembered details about personnel and the sets Yale and Brown ran, and she could even identify some play calls.
“I feel like I knew all them like the back of my hand,” Mullaney said. “Ultimately, didn’t get the W against them, but it was just cool to play against them and … be on the other side.”
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Monmouth and Mullaney are just getting started this season — and still chasing their first win together. But Wetmore already believes Mullaney could become as good of a coach as she was as a player.
“She’s so just capable,” Wetmore said, “and that sounds like such a silly word, but this profession is hard, and I think a lot of young people come into this and don’t realize how demanding it can be and how much is asked of you on a daily basis. … Obviously, she has a lot to learn, but she has a lot of what I think is important in a young coach. …
“I think she’s going to be a real star. I hope I can keep her as long as possible.”
