NEWPORT NEWS — Christopher Newport University head women’s basketball coach Bill Broderick announced that Chantel Roberts has been elevated to the lead Assistant Coach position and Katy Rader has been added as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 season.
Since working with CNU Women’s Basketball, Roberts and the Captains have compiled an impressive 58-3 record including an NCAA Division III National Runner-Up finish in 2022-23.
“Coach Roberts has done an excellent job for our program over the past two years and I am really excited that the opportunity has presented itself to promote her to our lead assistant for this coming season,” said Broderick. “Coach Roberts has been instrumental in elevating our program to the national spotlight and she is going to be salient in our quest to win the first-ever National Championship in CNU Women’s Basketball history.”
Roberts joined the CNU coaching staff in 2022 after two years as an assistant coach at Chowan University. Roberts coordinated team travel and assisted with evaluating opponents and preparing scouting reports for the Hawks. She helped organize and plan practice while also overseeing student managers and serving as an academic advisor to the student-athletes.
Prior to her tenure as an assistant coach at Chowan, she also spent one season as a student coach with the Hawks following a season as the Future League Coach at King’s Fork High School. She was named a WBCA “Thirty Under 30” selection in 2020 and also participated in the WBCA “So You Want to be a Coach” Program in 2018. As a player, Roberts was a first team All-CIAA A selection in 2018 while serving as team captain at Chowan. She earned second team All-State accolades and was a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.
Returning to the Captains family on the sidelines after an esteemed five-year career as a player, Katy Rader will join the coaching staff for her first season in 2024. The team captain concluded her career with over 100 games played with one of the finest win-loss records in program history (109-8) and a 93.2 winning percentage.
“Katy Rader, who will now be referred to as Coach Katy, has been a linchpin in our program for the past five years and has personified everything it means to be a Captain in our program,” said Broderick. “There is no doubt in my mind that Coach Katy is a rising star in our business and will be ascendant for the future success of our program.”
Rader was selected to participate in the prestigious “So You Want to be a Coach” Program as one of only 55 graduating seniors to be invited to the WBCA Convention in Cleveland on April 4-5. She was only the second player in program history to earn an invite to the long-standing seminar which increases the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball. A five-time Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference All-Academic team selection, Rader also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District plaudits during her tenure at CNU.
Roberts and Rader will be joined on the coaching staff by Terrance Gist for his fourth season and Julia Duggan for her third season on the sideline.
The Captains have advanced to ten of a possible eleven NCAA Tournaments since head coach Bill Broderick took control of the program in 2012. Under his direction, Christopher Newport has ascended to the national elite with an overall record of 282-45 (.862) in 11 seasons at the helm. CNU has earned the highest national ranking ever, at No. 1 in the poll, and registered one of the longest win streaks in Division III history when the Captains put together 43 victories in a row.
