Former Player Pounds Named Athletic Assistant
Aug 25, 2008 | Women's Basketball
August 25, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - After serving as a student assistant coach during a record-setting 2007-08 season for the Aggies, former Texas A&M women's basketball player Katy Pounds has been promoted to athletic assistant by head coach Gary Blair.
"This is just the next step and progression toward Katy's future career in coaching," Blair said. "Katy has been a great ambassador for our program over the last four years. She was too valuable to let go of with all of the strengths and skills that she brings to the table. Katy loves Texas A&M and this opportunity will give her the chance to explore every avenue of running a successful women's basketball program."
Pounds' day-to-day duties will include assisting the coaching staff with camps, community service projects and other team-related tasks. Last season, she served as a radio color analyst for the Texas A&M Sports Network as well as on-camera work for Fox Sports Southwest and Big 12 Conference Showcase.
"We want to continue to utilize Katy's communication skills," Blair said. "She is very talented in that area and will help in the increased visibility of our program. We wanted to put her versatility to good use and this is just the start of bringing back former players to our program."
While a student assistant coach, Pounds assisted in the preparation and development of the 2007-08 squad which reached the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in school history and won the Postseason Big 12 Conference Championship. Additionally, she aided the staff in scouting, film breakdown and on-campus recruiting visits. She also served a four-month internship where she organized and assisted in the management of summer camps.
Her greatest career accomplishment to date was being recognized as the youngest assistant coach to ever serve on the U.S. William Jones Cup Team sponsored by Athletes In Action in the summer of 2007. Pounds under the leadership of Texas A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer, led the U.S. women to a bronze-medal finish with victories in pool play over Japan, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and Korea, in Taipei, Taiwan.
After three seasons as a reserve forward for the Aggies, Pounds was placed on medical scholarship due to degenerative changes in both of her knees that would not permit her to finish out her playing career at A&M. She played in 76 career games with one start and shot a career-best 37.0 percent from three-point range as a junior en route to the program's first-ever Big 12 regular season title in 2006-07.
One of the most involved student-athletes on campus through her participation with Aggie Athletes Involved, Pounds was the recipient of the Coca-Cola Community All-American and Chick-fil-A Community of Champions Awards in 2007. She served as the team's community service organizer and Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative. A two-time recipient of the team's Miss Aggie Award, Pounds was also honored as Miss Aggie by 12th Man Magazine.
A three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team and three-time Texas A&M Verizon Scholar Athlete, Pounds graduated from A&M in an impressive three-year span with a bachelor's degree in sport management and a minor in business while holding down a 3.47 grade-point average. She recently graduated in August with a master's degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport management after just one year of post-graduate study.
"I expect to use this opportunity to the fullest while I have the ability to learn under the best coaching staff in the country," Pounds said. "People my age do not get chances like this to learn from the best, but I have. With my future aspiration of becoming a head coach someday, I could not ask for a better situation to take part in. It is such an honor to remain here in Aggieland after four wonderful years."
Originally from Shallowater, Texas, Pounds is the daughter of Dwayne and Misty Pounds and has one younger sister, Bailey (14). Her hobbies include all water activities, scrapbooking and traveling the world. She also enjoys spending time with her chocolate Labrador, Harley (8 months).
