Former Purdue star Katie Gearlds takes 1st head coaching job at Marian University

INDIANAPOLIS – Former Purdue star and WNBA veteran Katie Gearlds has been hired as Marian University's new women's basketball coach.

It's the first head coaching job for Gearlds, Indiana's Miss Basketball winner in 2003. The NAIA school has scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference to introduce Gearlds.

She played prep basketball at Beech Grove, on Indianapolis' east side, and finished her college career ranked No. 4 on Purdue's career scoring list with 1,974 points. Gearlds was the No. 7 overall pick in the WNBA draft in 2007 and spent three seasons in the WNBA. She also has played in Greece, Spain and most recently helped lead Portugal to a league crown last season after averaging 14.3 points per game.

Gearlds takes over a program that is 95-58 over the last seven seasons.