By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director

Toledo, OH -- New Owens Women's head basketball coach, Stephen Perry, announced a new addition to his coaching staff on August 1. Perry has named Shareese McBrayer as his the lead assistant for the basketball program.

"Having Shareese as the Assistant Coach is a slam dunk for the basketball program!," Coach Perry said. "She has excelled as a player at the D-I level and has coached at the JUCO and D-I level as well. She is well respected by her peers. She really understands the game and was a coach out on the floor as a player. She knows what it means to be a Student-Athlete and has already made an impact on our program." 

McBrayer has an extensive basketball pedigree on and off the court. She has been an assistant at the high school and collegiate level to go along with a stellar playing career as well. 

McBrayer played at the University of Cincinnati collegeiately, where she had an immediate impact on the Bearcats program. During her senior season, she led the Big East in minutes played and she was the team's leading scorer at 13.7 ppg. She was also the team's starting point guard during her junior season as well, where she scored 11.4 ppg after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. 

After her playing days at Cincinnati were complete, McBrayer was an assistant under Leon Kynard at Start High School for a year before returning to her alma mater, Waite High School, to be an assistant under head coach Manny May. Her coaching aspirations took her to Moberly Area Community College, in Missouri, where she was an assistant under head coach, Chad Killinger. At Moberly, she helped five players move on to Division I schools during her lone season with the Greyhounds. 

Next, she moved on to the University of Detroit Mercy, where she was a graduate assistant from 2014-2016. McBrayer was responsible for preparing practices and overseeing several other aspects of the basketball program's day to day operations. 

Most recently, she has been a susbstitute teacher within the Toledo Public School system as well as an assistant at Scott High School under her husband and head coach, Chris McBrayer. She also has played on the Toledo Threat, a semi-professional team in Northwest Ohio. 

McBrayer was a decorated athlete while attending Waite High School. She was a two time First Team All-Ohio selection, while playing for the Indians. She is the program's second all time leading scorer behind Natasha Howard, who plays in the WNBA. She was named Toledo Player of the Year three times, District Player of the Year twice, Toledo Blade Player of the Year twice, and she was nominated to be an McDonald's All-American after her senior season. She was also named to the All-City League team all four years of her high school career.

McBrayer is married to the aformentioned, Chris McBrayer, who will be entering his third season as the head coach of the Scott Bulldogs girls' basketball team. She has two children, a son, Cason, and a daughter, Caylee.  

(Edited on 8/1 to add quote from Coach Perry)