NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt women’s basketball associate head coach Kelly Komara was selected to participate in the prestigious 2020 TopConnect Virtual Seminar, June 11-12 as announced by founder Dr. Richard Sander.
Komara enters her fifth season on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball staff in 2020-21. A college teammate of head coach Stephanie White, Komara works with Vanderbilt’s guards where she helped Chelsie Hall land a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team in 2017-18, and last season, Jordyn Cambridge led the league in steals and earned SEC All-Defensive team honors.
In 2019-20, Komara oversaw the first Commodore duo to post more than 100 assists apiece in nearly a decade. Hall led the team with 117 assists, while Cambridge became the first Vanderbilt player with 100+ assists (105) and 80+ steals (85) in a season since Jade Huntington in 1989-90.
TopConnect, formerly Villa 7, was originated by Sander, then VCU’s athletic director, in 2003. The seminar identifies the top basketball assistant coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major athletic directors to provide networking opportunities for both parties.
TopConnect also develops programming that allows these top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders, including prominent head coaches, major media and sport influencers and the inner circle of college basketball and business leaders share their leadership experiences.
This year’s presenters include national coach of the year Dayton’s Anthony Grant, national mid-major coach of the year Steve Forbes of East Tennessee State (now at Wake Forest), hall of fame coach Muffet McGraw, hall of fame coach and current Tennessee athletic director, Phillip Fulmer and three-time NFL coach of the year, Mike Smith. Additionally, three panels of athletic directors will discuss what they look for in hiring a coach, expectations of the head coach and building a successful basketball program.
Other areas covered will be the search process moderated by Dan Walters (Buffkin/Baker) and Jeff Schemmel (College Sports Solutions), the media perspective including ESPN’s Seth Greenberg and Debbie Antonelli, as well as Stadium Basketball Insider’s, Jeff Goodman.
Since the inception of the program, TopConnect has spawned numerous Division I head coaches including Anthony Grant (Dayton), Buzz Williams (Texas A & M), Shaka Smart (Texas), Steve Forbes (East Tennessee State/Wake Forest), Rodney Terry (UTEP), John Groce (Akron), Kevin Keatts (North Carolina State), Greg Gary (Mercer), Brett Nelson (Holy Cross) and Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois).
