FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University head softball coach
Justin Walker named
Windy Thees as the assistant coach for the softball team today. Thees will be entering her first season with the Patriots in the 2024 season.
"I am honored and excited to join this championship staff and team," said Coach Thees. "George Mason University has a great reputation of commitment to all of its sports and student-athletes, and I cannot wait to be part of the Patriot community!"
Windy Thees is coming to Fairfax with over 20 years of coaching experience, which included head coaching positions at Georgia College & State (1999-2005), University of Memphis (2005-11), University of Mississippi (2011-14), Utah State University (Associate Head Softball Coach, 2015-18) and Winthrop University (2018-23).
Thees has spent the past five seasons as the head softball coach at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. In her first season as head coach in 2019, Thees' squad finished as the Big South Conference Tournament runner-up and posted 30 victories on the season for the first time since the 2008 season. The 2023 Eagles finished with a 26-24 record, which was the fourth winning season in the past five years and a feat that had not been accomplished in the 2000s. She also coached Winthrop pitcher Reese Basinger, who posted a 2.01 ERA and pitched a 13-strikeout perfect game. Bassinger was later named as a member of the 2023 All-Big South Conference First Team.
During her time at Utah State, Thees specialized in working with pitchers & catchers and served as an assistant coach with the Aggies. After her first year in Logan, Utah, she would be promoted to associate head coach prior to the start of the 2016 season. In her first year as associate head coach, Utah State posted a 26-25 overall record, their best record since 1996. Thees and her Aggie squad would build on their success the following season, putting up a program-best 33-18 overall record and a 14-9 Mountain West league record in 2017. In the same season, Coach Thees produced a pitching staff that posted a 3.09 ERA, which was the lowest by Utah State pitchers since 1998. She also produced an all-Mountain West First Team pitcher in Kellie White, who led the position with a 2.51 ERA in 2017. In 2018, senior catcher Brina Buttracavoli was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team.
At Ole Miss, Thees was the head coach for the Rebels for three seasons. In each of those three seasons in Oxford, Miss., her squad won at least 22 games and garnered multiple all-conference awards. Under her leadership, the Rebels increased their hits total every year, including a then-program record of 396 hits in 2014. She also set program records in 2014 in other statistical categories, such as runs batted in, walks and single-season saves. Her 2012 record of runners picked off (19) still stands today.
Windy Thees created the Memphis Softball program and was named the program's first head softball coach in 2005. Her best season at Memphis was in 2011, when the Tigers earned their first NCAA Tournament berth and went 36-14 with a .720 winning percentage, which is still the best winning percentage in its program's history. The 2011 season also saw them beat softball powerhouses Kentucky and Stanford in the regular season, post a 15-7 winning record in Conference USA play, receive national poll votes for the first time in program history and set a school-record of winning 10 games in a row. In her six years as head coach, Windy Thees produced nine all-conference awards, eight all-conference freshman team awards and three NFCA All-South Region selections.
Thees' first coaching opportunity was at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga., where she was named head coach at the age of 24. In 2003, Thees led the Bobcats to the Division II National Championship, where they would eventually finish as the national runner up. In her five seasons as head coach, Thees set numerous statistical records and helped her players garner all-conference, all-regional, weekly, and all-American awards. Her .639 winning percentage (163-92) is still the best head coach winning percentage in its program's history.
She is currently the battery coach for Great Britain's U22 softball team. She has been with the Great Britain coaching staff since 2018 and has been helping to develop softball players to compete in numerous tournaments such as the European Championships and World Championship Softball events.
A native of Mesa, Ariz., Thees was a four-year starter at both catcher and second base at Florida State from 1993-97, leading the Seminoles to three ACC Championships. She earned her bachelor's degree in marketing and multinational business from Florida State in 1997 and a master's degree in business administration from Georgia College & State University in 2002.
