Mike McGuire joins the Spiders' women's basketball team as an assistant coach.

June 19, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After having great success coaching girls high school basketball, Virginia native Mike McGuire has joined the Richmond women's basketball program as an assistant coach. McGuire comes to Richmond from Roanoke where he has led Hidden Valley High School for the past two years.

McGuire, a 2000 graduate of Roanoke College, has a combined 11 years of coaching experience including 10 years at the high school level and one at the collegiate level.

"Mike is a valuable addition to our program," said head coach Michael Shafer who became acquainted with McGuire while recruiting Hidden Valley standout Abby Oliver, who will join the Spiders this fall. "He comes from a great deal of success at Hidden Valley, where he truly built a great program."

At Hidden Valley, McGuire led the team to two Group AA State Championships, two Regional Championships and two River Ridge District Championships compiling an impressive 55-5 record in his short stint as head coach. With his success at Hidden Valley, McGuire was named Group AA State Coach of the Year, Regional Coach of the Year and River Ridge District Coach of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.

"I believe that our players will learn a great deal from him as he is very knowledgeable in the game of basketball," Shafer added. "He spends a lot of time watching, reading and discussing the game, so he provides a lot of new ideas. Mike's passion for the game is infectious; it will spread within our program."

Prior to Hidden Valley, McGuire led the William Byrd High School girls basketball program from 2002-06 where he compiled 10 wins in his first year as a head coach, going 50-47 in four years. In his last season McGuire guided the program to its first regional post-season in seven years.

"Mike's greatest attribute is that he is a proven teacher," said Shafer. "His ability to teach, both on and off the floor, is a quality that really attracted me to him. He has a natural ability to relate to student-athletes and share his knowledge of the game."