Indiana women’s basketball has promoted Ali Patberg to full-time assistant coach and added IU alum Keyanna Warthen to its staff as team and recruitment coordinator and assistant coach, the program announced Wednesday.
Patberg is entering her third year on Indiana’s staff. She spent the last two years in the role Warthen takes over, though she didn’t add the assistant coach title until last season. Warthen served as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) last season under former IU associate head coach Glenn Box.
These moves come after assistant coach Amber Smith and IU parted ways, creating the opening for Patberg.
“It is especially exciting to announce these additions to our staff in two program alums who were both instrumental in building culture and success that we’ve had at Indiana,” IU head coach Teri Moren said in the press release. “Ali has continued to thrive in her role on staff and has been an integral part of what Indiana women’s basketball has become. It’s such a joy to be able to bring Keyanna back home to Bloomington. She has had the opportunity to be a full-time assistant last year at Miami and will bring valuable experience for our student-athletes.”
Patberg and Warthen were teammates at IU from 2017-2021; Patberg sat out during the 2017-18 season after transferring from Notre Dame, and played in 2021-22 after Warthen graduated. Both were on Indiana’s 2020-21 Elite Eight team.
The main impact of Patberg’s role change is that it allows her to recruit away from campus — only the three lead assistants are allowed to do so, per NCAA rules. So last year, that was Smith, associate head coach Rhet Wierzba, and assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Linda Sayavongchanh.
Patberg’s promotion will likely also come with a raise. According to documents obtained by The Daily Hoosier through public record request, Patberg made $75,000 in 2023-24, after making $50,000 in 2022-23 before she received the assistant coach title. Additionally, Smith made $170,000 last season, Sayavongchanh made $160,000, and Wierzba made $215,000. As a full-time assistant, Patberg’s salary would likely approach that range of the other full-time assistants’.
Warthen spent 2022-23 as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State. She held a marketing internship with the Dallas Wings in 2022.
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