Head Coach: Joe Fussner
Joe Fussner has been the architect the most successful era in the 34-year history of Stockton women’s basketball. Fussner has led the Ospreys to at least 18 wins in six of the past seven seasons. During that time, Stockton also has won two NJAC championships and made three NCAA Tournament appearances. Overall, Fussner has guided the Ospreys to two NJAC championships and nine postseason appearances including four NCAA Tournament berths and one ECAC Metro title in his 14 seasons as head coach.

Last season, the Ospreys got off to their best start ever (11-0) and eventually set a school record with 22 victories. Stockton also finished in first place in the NJAC and earned its second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Fussner led a young Stockton team with just one senior to the NJAC championship and an 18-10 record during the 2004-05 season. Along the way, he earned his 200th victory at Stockton with a 47-42 win over Montclair State on February 12, 2005.

Stockton joined the league’s elite in 1999-00 with an improbable postseason run. The fourth-seeded Ospreys upset the top two seeds to win their first NJAC championship and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The squad advanced to the second round before finishing with an 18-10 record, and Fussner was rewarded with NJAC Coach of the Year honors. That season began a string of four straight years with at least 18 wins and included an ECAC Metro championship in 2001.

Fussner initially became the Stockton head women’s basketball coach in 1982 and went 55-22 over a three-year span that included one NCAA Tournament bid and two ECAC playoff berths. His 1983-84 team won a school-record 20 games. After a two-year hiatus, Fussner returned to the Stockton bench in 1987 and won NJAC Coach of the Year laurels after the Ospreys went 14-12 and returned to the ECAC tournament. His current stint as head coach began in 1997-98 when he inherited a 4-19 team, improved to 7-16 and then jumped to 14-10 during the 1998-99 season.

Fussner also had tremendous success at Atlantic City High School. From 1974 to 1981, he led the girls basketball team to two Group IV state championships, four South Jersey titles, and seven Cape Atlantic League crowns. Between 1988 and 1995, Fussner coached the Atlantic City boys basketball team to a 144-24 mark and six Cape Atlantic League titles.

Phone: (609) 626-6009
Fax: (609) 626-5510
E-mail: fussnerj@stockton.edu

Assistant Coaches:
Ed Kirkwood
Ed Kirkwood returns for his sixth season on the Stockton bench. He possesses a wealth of basketball coaching experience. Before joining the Ospreys, Kirkwood seved as the assistant girls basketball coach at Edgewood High School from 1995-2001. Prior to that, he was the head girls coach at St. Joesph High School for six seasons. Kirkwood also spent one year apiece as an assistant coach at St. Joseph and Sterling High School.

Mike Gould
Mike Gould joins the Stockton women’s basketball staff this season, bringing extensive basketball coaching experience from the high school level. Gould compiled an impressive record of 228-73 in stints as the head girls basketball coach at Holy Cross, Woodbury and Riverside high schools. He was named the Philadelphia Inquirer Coach of the Year in 2004 after leading Riverside to the South Jersey Group I championship and a runner-up finish in the state playoffs.

Krystle Umscheid
Krystle Umscheid joins the coaching staff as a student assistant this season after concluding her playing career at Stockton last year. Umscheid was a four-year letter winner who played in 105 games in a Stockton uniform. She tallied 536 points and 288 rebounds while also shooting 79 percent from the free throw line in her career.