FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team has welcomed back one of its own to fill a spot on its coaching staff.
Former Mason basketball standout Amber Easter has been named the program's director of basketball operations, head coach
Nyla Milleson announced on Thursday. Easter played for the Patriots from 2009-13. She spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant at VCU.
"Anytime you can bring a Mason alum back home, it is a positive," Milleson said. "Amber Easter bleeds green and gold and it was evident that Mason was where she wanted to be. She will work tirelessly to make sure our day to day operations run smoothly and that our student-athletes are well taken care of. She will oversee our community service as well as continue to build our alumni relations. Words can't express how excited we are to have Amber join our staff."
Easter, a native of Hampton, Va., served as a graduate assistant at VCU under head coach Beth O'Boyle. Easter contributed to player development, provided on-court instruction and created scouting reports.
She also assisted the director of basketball operations in day to day operations and the recruiting coordinator by managing and creating recruiting logs and creating player and coaches databases for recruits and current student-athletes. She also served as social media liaison.
In her two years at VCU, the Rams were 39-25. In 2015-16, the Rams won 23 games, reached the semifinals of the A-10 women's basketball tournament and reached the WNIT.
Prior to VCU, Easter worked at Bethel High School in Hampton as an assistant girls basketball coach and the head junior varsity coach for two years. During the 2014-15 season, Bethel complied a 21-1 mark and was the 6A South State runner-up. During that time, Easter was a mentor at Together Lives Change, which helps students assist students with social environment and associated difficulties.
During her four-year collegiate career, Easter was a 1,000-point scorer for the Patriots and finished her career 11th on the all-time scoring charts (1,277). She ranks fifth in program history in career rebounds (753), ninth in blocked shots (65), 17th in assists (192) and 20th in steals (135). She averaged 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 120 career games.
As a freshman in 2009-10, she was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team. Easter, who graduated from Mason in 2013 with a degree in psychology, was also named to the CAA All-Academic Second Team as a senior.
