Amanda Hart Promoted to DWU’s Top Women’s Basketball Assistant

MITCHELL, S.D. – Former Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball star Amanda Hart has been named the top assistant for the Tigers effective August 2015, it was announced by DWU Head Women's Basketball Coach Jason Christensen on Thursday.

Hart served as an assistant with the Tigers during the 2014-15 season, while also working as a graduate assistant in the sports information department. Hart will take over for Sam Sikkink on Christensen's staff in 2015-16. Sikkink will depart DWU in August to pursue a position at Bemidji State University in Minnesota.

"Anytime you can hire a former player as your top assistant it's extremely beneficial to your program, the university and you as a coach," Christensen said.

Hart, a native of Alexandria, S.D., completed a successful playing career for the Tigers in 2014, graduating as the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 391. She is a member of the school's 1,000-point club and ranks seventh on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,406 points in her four seasons with the Tigers. Hart also set the school mark for 3-pointers in a season with 112 in 2011-12.

"I'm just excited about the year ahead and being back on staff," Hart said. "Coach Christensen and I work well together and I'm grateful that he's given me the opportunity to work with him and this team for another year."

Hart was named to the All-Great Plains Athletic Conference Second Team in 2012, 2013 and 2014, following an honorable mention in her freshman season. Her work in the classroom was acknowledged as well, with back-to-back Daktronics/NAIA Scholar Athlete awards in her final two seasons. She was listed on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in 2011-12 and at the 2014-15 DWU Senior Honors Banquet, Hart was named the KMIT Student Athlete-of-the-Year and received the Matthew D. Smith Award.

During her senior year, Hart worked as the assistant to GPAC Commissioner Corey Westra, serving as the liaison between the conference's 11 member institutions.

"It's exciting to see former student athletes promoted at the college level," Westra said. "She shows great passion for the game and definitely knows her way around a basketball court. Her hard work shows with Coach Christensen promoting her to a top assistant at this stage of her career. The thing I noticed when she was working for us was that some people just get it, and not just basketball, but all aspects of athletics. She just gets it. There was a high level of trust when she worked with me."

Over the past two years, Hart has worked with the Maya Moore Basketball Academy in Indianapolis, Ind., where she was selected to help coach and organize the annual event in conjunction with Ultimate Hoops and the Jordan Brand. She also organized the Amanda Hart Basketball Camp, which is the largest privately-owned camp in the state of South Dakota, with more than 175 campers per year in attendance.

In 2014-15, Hart served as an assistant coach for the DWU women's basketball team where she was the team's academic supervisor and co-recruiting coordinator. The team maintained a 3.6 grade point average under the direction of Hart. She was also the graduate assistant for the DWU sports information department, where she helped manage the school's media and website, along with assisting in game-day operations.

"Amanda has many connections in the basketball world, the surrounding area and the country," Christensen said. "She has been around Dakota Wesleyan her entire life and her loyalty to DWU and the Mitchell area makes her a great fit for this position."

Hart graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 2014 from DWU with a double major in English and sports management. She is currently completing her Master's degree in educational policy and administration at DWU and is set to graduate in the fall of 2015.