Western Carolina University Women's Basketball

A former head coach at both George Washington University and the University of Wisconsin, Jonathan Tsipis was named the head women's basketball head coach at Western

Kaifes (pronounced KAY-fiss) is a former women's basketball student-athlete at Marquette University, where she crossed paths with Tsipis during his tenure on staff

Darius Barksdale joins the 2024-24 Catamount Women's Basketball staff by way of the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he and head coach Jonathan Tsipis served on the support staff during the 2023-24 campaign. Marquette made program history with the two on staff, opening the season 12-0, and was able to boast about being one of only 10 teams in the nation to go undefeated in the non-conference slate. During his time as the Director of Video and Player Development in Milwaukee, Barksdale handled all of the program's video content needs, including opponent scouting and player development. Prior to joining the Golden Eagles, Barksdale spent two seasons in Austin with the Texas Longhorns during the 2021-23 seasons. He was involved in nearly every aspect of the program, including on-campus recruiting, scouting, player development, and administrating the team's summer camps. During the 2022-23 season, the Longhorns took the Big 12 tournament title and ran to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. A three-year men's basketball letter winner (2017-20) at Urbana University, Barksdale earned his bachelor's in sports management in 2020. Originally from Lexington, Ky., he appeared in 58 career games for the Blue Knights after playing one season (2016-17) at Oakland City University. Barksdale completed his master's in communication, with an emphasis in sports communication, in 2023 and graduated cum laude.

Sydney Lowery played at both Boston College and as a graduate transfer at Fairfield. She joins the Catamount staff having spent the past two seasons in Tallahassee, Fla., as a graduate assistant at Florida State. During her two years at FSU, the Seminoles posted a combined 46-21 record. Originally from Shelton, Conn., Lowery played 77 career games at Boston College with 17 starts from 2017-20 and was a two-time ACC Honor Roll recipient. She concluded her career as a graduate transfer at Fairfield University in 2022 helping the Stags make the NCAA tournament following a MAAC tournament championship. The 5-10 guard started in all 30 of her appearances that season. Lowery was also a McDonald's All-America nominee at St. Luke's High in New Canaan, Conn., where she scored 2,065 points as a prep. She later started her coaching career at St. Luke's as an assistant on the girls' basketball staff. She also has experience working women's basketball elite camps while an undergraduate at Boston College. Lowery graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and political science. She was awarded a Master's of Science in Management from Fairfield in 2022. She also earned her Master's of Science in Sport Management from Florida State in 2024.