THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s basketball head coach Nell Fortner announced today Blanche Alverson will join the Yellow Jackets staff as assistant coach. Alverson arrives on The Flats after spending two seasons in the same position at University of Southern California.
“Blanche and I go way back. I coached her at Auburn where she was a tremendous stretch four player because of her incredible three-point range,” stated Fortner. “Her personality and her ability to get along with anybody that she comes into contact with is energizing. She is smart, hard-working, and she is going to make an outstanding head coach one day. I’m so excited about her being back in her state of Georgia to continue recruiting the athletes here and building this Georgia Tech program.”
While with the Trojans, Alverson helped ink the No. 5 recruiting class in the country that included a McDonald’s All-American, two Gatorade State Players of the Year, four state champions and a honorable mention all-America. The 2018 and 2019 recruiting classes included five top 50 prospects.
As part of her role at USC, Alverson was the academic liaison, incoming student-athlete admissions director and camp coordinator. During her stay at USC, five student-athletes garnered Pac-12 academic accolades, including guard Minyon Moore who repeated as Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention two consecutive years. Additionally, six Trojans picked up All-Pac-12 honors during her two-year tenure.
Prior to her time at USC, Alverson served one year at New Mexico State as an assistant coach where she helped sign two top-150 prospects as part of her co-recruiting coordinator role. The Aggies won their third-straight Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in 2017, finishing the season undefeated in league action and earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Alverson worked with both guards and posts at NM State in skill development and helped mentor Brooke Salas who became a two-time WAC Conference Player of the Year.
She started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech while also serving as interim assistant coach on occasion. Alverson spent two seasons with the Red Raiders from 2014-16 focusing on recruiting, individual skill instruction, scheduling and social media campaigns.
A four-year letterwinner at Auburn from 2009-13, Alverson played three years for Nell Fortner. She finished her career second all-time in three-point shots made and became just the fourth Tiger in program history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocks. A two-time Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013, Alverson was also named to the Allstate WBCA Good Works Community Service Team as a senior.
“I am very excited to be joining Coach Fortner’s coaching staff at Georgia Tech,” Alverson said. “The things I have learned from her as a young student-athlete have shaped me and my coaching career. It is an honor that life has come full circle and afforded me the opportunity to coach alongside her. Coach Fortner brings a passion and excitement to the job that is almost palpable.
“It is a tremendous privilege to work at an institution that offers the highest level of academics and athletics, and Georgia Tech does just that,” continued Alverson. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back in Atlanta, working for Coach Fortner, who has invested in me since I was 15 years old.”
A native of Andalusia, Ala., and a graduate of Buford High School in Buford, Ga., Alverson earned a bachelor of science in biomedical sciences from Auburn in 2013 and a master’s of science in sports management from Texas Tech in 2016.
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