Meet Missy Traversi: Army’s new head women’s basketball coach

Army has found its new head women’s basketball coach, and it didn’t have to go very far to find her – just a few miles down the Hudson River.

The Black Knights announced Monday that they had hired Missy Traversi as their ninth head coach in the history of their women’s basketball program.

“Her experience both as a player and a coach at all levels made her a standout candidate for this position,” Army AD Mike Buddie said in a statement. “She clearly embraces our pillars of duty, honor and country and we can’t wait to watch her lead our women’s basketball cadet-athletes into this new era at West Point.”

She succeeds Dave Magarity, who retired at the end of the season after 15 seasons on the job in West Point. During that stretch, Magarity led Army to four postseason appearances.

Traversi comes to Army with a track record of postseason success. She was previously the head coach at Division II Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. In the Northeast-10 – one of the toughest Division II conferences for women’s basketball – she led them to a conference title and two NCAA Division II tournament berths over the span of four seasons. She twice led Adelphi to 27-win seasons.

“What a privilege it will be to work alongside impressive cadet-athletes as they develop into future officers and leaders in the world,” Traversi said in a statement. “I believe my brand of coaching is tailored to the core values of the type of female athlete that is built for West Point. I will recruit and develop fiercely competitive individuals with high integrity who value team above self.”

She’s coached at all levels of basketball over her 13 years in the game as a coach. Before Adelphi, she was the head coach of Division III Wheelock College in Boston – leading the Wildcats to its winningest season in program history. Before that, she was the head coach at Attleboro High School, an assistant coach at Harvard and the head coach at Dover-Sherborn High School.

Traversi spent her playing days at the University of Maine, where she was a 1,000-point scorer, an all-conference selection, and helped the Black Bears win a trio of America East regular-season championships. Maine went to the NCAA tournament in 2004, but lost in the first round to No. 4 Texas Tech, 60-50.

After playing professionally in Sweden for a few seasons — and a brief stint with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky — Traversi returned to the U.S. to begin her coaching career and to get her masters degree from Ohio University.

Magarity announced his intentions to retire at the end of this past season back in January. Soon after, Army began a nationwide search for his predecessor. A source close to the situation told Against All Enemies that the Black Knights even reached out to assistant coaches in the Big Ten and ACC. Ultimately, they found the right candidate in the state of New York. A non-Patriot League coach was optimistic about Traversi at Army, telling Against All Enemies, “I like it. She plays a fun style. It’s a really solid hire.”

Another source close to the situation confirmed that — while there are a plethora of athletes transferring this season due to the NCAA’s COVID-era eligibility waiver — there are zero Army women’s basketball players in the transfer portal as of Wednesday.

Army went 9-11 this past season. Junior guard Alisa Fallon and freshman guard Lauren Lithgow both earned All-Patriot League honors.