KINGSTON, R.I. — Rhode Island women's basketball head coach Tammi Reiss announced the promotion of assistant coach Megan Shoniker to Associate Head Coach on Wednesday. Spending the last four years on staff under Reiss, Shoniker will continue to take the lead as the team's defensive coordinator, along with all things recruiting and working with the guards.
"I'm extremely excited to announce the promotion of Megan Shoniker to Associate Head Coach," said Reiss. "She bleeds Keaney blue and has shown tremendous growth as an Assistant Coach. She is a tireless recruiting coordinator, a meticulous scout and a relentless defensive coordinator. I rely on Meg in so many facets of our program and I'm extremely proud of her. She deserves this title and she has definitely earned it"
Shoniker was the main recruiter for All-Conference selection Dolly Cairns, who sits second all-time in the Rhody ranks with a .395 career 3-pt field goal percentage. Cairns, a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, made 57 3-pointers last season as a sophomore for seventh all-time. Shoniker's recruitment also includes incoming freshman Chantelle Blagrove, transfer Sayawni Lassiter and junior Sophie Phillips.
A 2011 graduate from Rhode Island, Shoniker sits ninth in program history with 1,318 career points. A two-time captain, Shoniker is in the top 10 all-time in points scored in a game (t-3rd, t-8th), points scored in a season (2nd), and points scored in her career (9th). Her 18.9 scoring average her senior year ranks third-best all-time. She sits first in program history with her 18 free-throws made in a game and 159 free-throws made in a single season.
To add to her impressive senior year, Shoniker was just the third Ram in program history to earn A-10 Academic All-Conference honors. Shoniker was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District Second Team in an all-time best 1,066 minutes in a season. Her 301 career assists rank sixth all-time. She is one of 25 players in team history to have played 31 games in a season, and is third all-time with 117 career games played.
After her collegiate career, Shoniker played in Belarus with Team Olimpia Grodno where she earned First-Team All-Belarusian League and First-Team All-Import.
A graduate of Greece Arcadia High School, Shoniker left the school as Monroe County's all-time leading scorer with 2,216 career points.
"I can't thank Coach Reiss enough for this opportunity," said Shoniker. "Coming to Rhode Island and building a solid culture, winning basketball games, and graduating great student-athletes… it's something I always dreamed of. And being around this group, believing and trusting in Coach Reiss and her vision, is everything I could ask for. Once I got into this business of coaching, coming back to coach at URI was always a goal of mine professionally. Having this opportunity with the people that I do is really special."
