Columbus, OH - In her final year as a women's basketball player at American University, current Manhattan Assistant Coach
Sahar Nusseibeh attended the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) "So You Want to Be a Coach Program," which helps graduating collegiate players build the skills needed to transition into the coaching industry.
While there, she met Marist Assistant Coach Keila Whittington, whose help, Nusseibeh says, was vital to launching her own coaching career.
"I remember going up to Coach Whittington, who was on her way to [a job at] Oregon at the time," Nusseibeh recalls. "She gave me her personal email and helped me become a grad assistant at Cincinnati. She paid it forward, so I always strive to be that person for young women."
Paying it forward as Whittington did, Nusseibeh returns to the "So" program this week as a guest speaker, imparting advice to young athletes sitting in the same seats she occupied not too long ago. This will be the second time that Nusseibeh has been invited to speak for the program, which is held in conjunction with the WBCA's annual convention, and the NCAA Women's Final Four, this year in Columbus, Ohio.
"My talk is about knowing your story and using it to be a better coach," Nusseibeh explains. "I also stress the value of doing whatever it takes—there's no job too small and you have to be the ultimate teammate as a coach."
Just finishing her second season at Manhattan, Nusseibeh helped the Jaspers to a .500 conference record—a five-win improvement over the previous season—and a quarterfinal berth in the 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships. During her time with the Jaspers, she has worked closely with the team's post players, and focuses heavily on defensive strategy, while also serving as the team's recruiting coordinator. (Earlier this season, Nusseibeh's influence sparked senior guard
Amani Tatum's interest in the "So" program, and Tatum will be
joining her in Columbus as a participant.)
In 2016, Nusseibeh was named to the WBCA's inaugural "Thirty Under 30" list, which recognizes the top 30 up-and-coming coaches 30-years old or younger at all levels of the game. A graduate of the NCAA's Women Coaches Academy, she has also participated in the WBCA's Center for Coaching Excellence. Nusseibeh has held coaching positions at Holy Cross and Bowling Green, as well, and, based on her resume alone, she has more than enough experience to impart wisdom to future coaches.
But her definition of what it means to be a coach encompasses more than just the X's and O's.
"I want to give them things I'd love for them to strive to be," she says of the "So" participants. "As coaches, it's our responsibility to pull them and other young coaches up, to help them get into the game. It's a chain."
