O'Regan poised to take the reins

From the Fall 2016 print issue of Madison.

Sean O’Regan (’03) spent nine seasons as an assistant coach of the women’s basketball program at Madison under his mentor, Kenny Brooks. He credits Brooks for nearly every step in his career development, beginning with his time as a manager of the men’s team when Brooks was an assistant coach.

But the reality is that O’Regan has been an integral part of the success that JMU women’s basketball has enjoyed over the past decade. The program has recorded at least 24 wins in 11 consecutive seasons and five CAA titles in the last seven years. That success was a key factor in his hire as head coach.

“When I first met with the team, it was surreal that I’m going to get to do this because it’s been a dream of mine for so long,” he says.

See how the team reacted:

The changing of the guard includes a mostly new coaching staff, so the responsibility falls squarely on O’Regan’s shoulders to connect the old and the new and to help his student-athletes adjust. “I’ve learned that I need to be extremely good with communication. I know the way I want to keep it going.”

O’Regan believes the transition will be made easier by the support and resources in place at JMU. “I think that James Madison operates like a big-time program,” he says.

“In sports medicine, strength and conditioning, academics, the campus—we have every resource we need. As we add cost of attendance and a new Convocation Center, I don’t think I could come up with anything that is going to hold us back.”

An artistic rendering outside of the new JMU Convo