Hokie Club Christal Caldwell joined the Virginia Tech women’s basketball staff in August of 2020, after a three-season stint on the sidelines at her alma mater West Virginia, where she was a 1,000-point scorer in her playing days, earning First Team All-Big 12 accolades and leading the Mountaineers to a conference title in 2014. After a decorated career at WVU, Caldwell played professionally for FIBA’s Sepsi SIC in Romania.
“I’m very excited about the addition of Christal Caldwell to our staff,” Brook said. “I’ve known Christal for a while now and I’ve admired her work from afar as she helped recruit and develop talented players at West Virginia. Her knowledge and presence will enhance our program into the future. This hire completes our staff and I’m excited to watch the chemistry form between these talented coaches and players,” he added.
“I have watched Coach Brooks and the wonderful things he’s done with his staff, players, and this program,” Caldwell said. “I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and excited to get to work with such a great group of people.”
Caldwell was instrumental in working with the guards in her first season back at the WVU Coliseum. Chania Ray ranked near the top of the league in assists per game, despite never having played point guard until she arrived in Morgantown. Additionally, Katrina Pardee continued to work her way up the program’s all-time 3-point shooting list. The Mountaineers grabbed a top-25 win over Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and also made its second straight Big 12 Tournament Semifinals, and later embarked on a run to the Postseason WNIT Finals.
Prior to her return to Morgantown, she spent two seasons at La Salle where she helped the Explorers to an incredible turnaround in 2016-17. La Salle finished the campaign with 17 victories, 12 more than the previous season.
As the guard’s coach, Caldwell guided two Explorers to conference honors, including league scoring leader Amy Griffin to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team and Jasmine Alston to the A-10 All-Defensive Team. Additionally, Griffin led the Philadelphia Big 5 in scoring and was a Philadelphia All-Big 5 First Team honoree in 2017. Also, under Caldwell’s guidance, Adreana Miller led the Big 5 in free throw percentage.
Caldwell worked in implementing team programs and assessing strength and weaknesses for each student-athlete. Additionally, she served as the coach liaison between academic services, compliance, marketing, equipment and facilities.
In 2015-16, Caldwell served as the director of operations at La Salle. She was responsible for managing the team’s business affairs, coordinating travel and practice times as well as organizing and managing the team budget.
In her two seasons, Caldwell helped guide Amy Griffin to the Atlantic 10 scoring title (17.7 points per game) and a third team Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection last season. Meanwhile, guard Micahya Owens averaged 13.4 points per game her senior season and became the 24th Explorer to score 1,000 career points.
Caldwell joined the Explorers in 2015 after spending the previous two summers as the head camp counselor for various women’s basketball camps in the Charlotte area. As head camp counselor, Caldwell designed training activities and led group activities for camp participants.
She owns a degree in psychology from West Virginia, where she also minored in child development and communications.
“I’m very excited about the addition of Christal Caldwell to our staff,” Brook said. “I’ve known Christal for a while now and I’ve admired her work from afar as she helped recruit and develop talented players at West Virginia. Her knowledge and presence will enhance our program into the future. This hire completes our staff and I’m excited to watch the chemistry form between these talented coaches and players,” he added.
“I have watched Coach Brooks and the wonderful things he’s done with his staff, players, and this program,” Caldwell said. “I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and excited to get to work with such a great group of people.”
Caldwell was instrumental in working with the guards in her first season back at the WVU Coliseum. Chania Ray ranked near the top of the league in assists per game, despite never having played point guard until she arrived in Morgantown. Additionally, Katrina Pardee continued to work her way up the program’s all-time 3-point shooting list. The Mountaineers grabbed a top-25 win over Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and also made its second straight Big 12 Tournament Semifinals, and later embarked on a run to the Postseason WNIT Finals.
Prior to her return to Morgantown, she spent two seasons at La Salle where she helped the Explorers to an incredible turnaround in 2016-17. La Salle finished the campaign with 17 victories, 12 more than the previous season.
As the guard’s coach, Caldwell guided two Explorers to conference honors, including league scoring leader Amy Griffin to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team and Jasmine Alston to the A-10 All-Defensive Team. Additionally, Griffin led the Philadelphia Big 5 in scoring and was a Philadelphia All-Big 5 First Team honoree in 2017. Also, under Caldwell’s guidance, Adreana Miller led the Big 5 in free throw percentage.
Caldwell worked in implementing team programs and assessing strength and weaknesses for each student-athlete. Additionally, she served as the coach liaison between academic services, compliance, marketing, equipment and facilities.
In 2015-16, Caldwell served as the director of operations at La Salle. She was responsible for managing the team’s business affairs, coordinating travel and practice times as well as organizing and managing the team budget.
In her two seasons, Caldwell helped guide Amy Griffin to the Atlantic 10 scoring title (17.7 points per game) and a third team Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection last season. Meanwhile, guard Micahya Owens averaged 13.4 points per game her senior season and became the 24th Explorer to score 1,000 career points.
Caldwell joined the Explorers in 2015 after spending the previous two summers as the head camp counselor for various women’s basketball camps in the Charlotte area. As head camp counselor, Caldwell designed training activities and led group activities for camp participants.
She owns a degree in psychology from West Virginia, where she also minored in child development and communications.