Chelsea Gilliam Selected as Head Coach for BCU Bowling

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Chelsea Gilliam has been named the new head coach for the Bethune-Cookman University bowling program, announced Monday morning by Bethune-Cookman Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Lynn W. Thompson. While at BCU, she will serve as the lead coordinator ain all facets of the BCU Women's Bowling program.

"I am so happy to have Chelsea [Gilliam] join our family as the new head coach for the bowling program," said Sandra Booker, BCU Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator. "The selection and hiring process for a new bowling coach has been a long one. However, we felt that after meeting with Chelsea and spending time with her over the course of the interview process, that she was truly the right fit to lead our program into its next chapter."

Chelsea Gilliam arrives to Bethune-Cookman after spending the previous three years at Youngstown State in Ohio. She joined the Penguins as the school's first-ever bowling coach in September 2015, and she spent the 2015-16 academic year recruiting the first team in school history, and preparing a future schedule. The 2016-17 season served as the first for Youngstown State Bowling as an intercollegiate sport, and Gilliam immediately helped the Penguins in securing status as a Top 25 program.

With just eight freshmen and sophomores on the roster, YSU finished its inaugural season ranked 25th in the final National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll. With the Penguins making their top 25 debut at No. 24 in February 2017, the team eventually reached as high as No. 23 just under a month later in March 2017. YSU was the only first-year program to be ranked in the final top 25. Statistically, YSU ranked 21st in the country across all divisions in team scoring average, and its strength of schedule ranked 16th.

"I'm very excited about working at Bethune-Cookman University," said Gilliam. "This is a great opportunity to continue coaching at the Division I level, and at a place that I just felt comfortable being around everyone from the moment I met them. Not to mention, being in Florida allows me to be closer to my family as well. I am just ready to get going."

Gilliam and the Penguins earned 18 wins over teams that were ranked in the final National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll during the 2016-17 campaign. The Penguins defeated three teams in the top 10 – No. 5 Sam Houston State on Oct. 29, No. 7 Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 11 and No. 9 Sacred Heart on Jan. 21. Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin both advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Penguins had 20 wins against teams that were ranked at the time of competition.

For her efforts and the team's success in its first season of competition, Gilliam was one of 10 coaches to be nominated for the NTCA Division I Coach of the Year award.

"Her coaching résumé and pedigree speaks for itself," said Lynn W. Thompson, BCU Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics. "We not only looked at her coaching references and her record, but we looked at how she created a program from scratch, and how she molded into her idea of a Top 25 program. She has all the intangibles of being a top Division I head coach, and that is why we're so proud to have her as our new head coach for Bowling at Bethune-Cookman."

Prior to her stint at Youngstown State, Gilliam served for three years as the head coach of the men's and women's bowling programs at Union College in Kentucky. In 2015, Gilliam led the Bulldogs' men's team to a second consecutive runner-up finish at the Mid-South Conference Tournament. As the head of the women's program, Gilliam was selected the MSC's Women's Co-Head Coach of the Year in 2014.

A native of Pecatonica, Illinois, Gilliam was hired as an assistant coach at Union in the summer of 2012, and she became the interim head coach of the NAIA program just a few months later in September of that same year. She was elevated to the full-time position in May 2013.

Gilliam was a four-year member of the University of Pikeville (Ky.) bowling team, and she was a senior on the 2012 NAIA National Championship squad. On two occasions, she participated in the United States Bowling Congress National Tournament as a student-athlete.

Chelsea Gilliam is a graduate of Pikeville, having earned a bachelor's degrees in mathematics and psychology in 2012. While in high school, Gilliam bowled three (3) 300 games en route to achieving an Illinois state champion medalist award in her junior year

Away from the bowling lanes, Gilliam is also a breast cancer survivor, and she was chosen as a "Fabulous Four" essay contest winner by the USBC in 2015 for sharing her story. The "Fabulous Four" is part of the USBC's "Bowl for the Cure" program, which is a fundraising and breast cancer awareness initiative associated with Susan G. Komen. Having participated in several promotions for Susan G. Komen, she continues to be an outspoken advocate for breast cancer awareness and early detection.

"Bowling season begins today, and I am just ready to get practices going, get the schedule setup and meet the young ladies, most of all," added Gilliam. "I am getting settled in, but like I said, I am just ready to get going. This is all so very exciting and a new challenge being in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)."R

Her duties as head coach begin Monday, October 1.

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