Former Penn State women’s basketball star Maggie Lucas was promoted to an assistant coach for the Lady Lions, per a team release from Thursday afternoon. Lucas previously rejoined the program in May when she stepped into the Director of Player Development role.

“I am beyond excited about my promotion to assistant coach! It is an amazing opportunity and full circle moment in my journey with Penn State women’s basketball,” Lucas said in the release. “I have so much faith in this program and the new heights we will reach. It’s good to be home!”

Our new assistant coach is a familiar face

So happy to announce Lady Lions' great @MaggieLucas33 has been elevated to this role

: https://t.co/YVfYjvu786#UnleashThePRIDE pic.twitter.com/iIPd5OZdF0

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) July 14, 2022

Lucas will help guide a shaky Lady Lions team that went 11-18 last season and endured a blowout in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament against Rutgers.

“We are thrilled to elevate Maggie Lucas to an assistant coach,” head coach Carolyn Kieger said in the release. “She has an incredible passion for Lady Lion basketball and knows what it takes to win championships here. She is no doubt the perfect fit to help our program get back to the top.”

At Penn State, Lucas established herself as one of the program’s all-time greats. Lucas finished her career with 2,510 points. She had three of the Lady Lions’ all-time highest individual scoring seasons en route to the second-highest career points in program history.

Over Lucas’ career, the Lady Lions won three consecutive Big Ten regular-season championships and successfully made the NCAA Tournament all four years, culminating in two Sweet 16 appearances. Additionally, Lucas was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year recipient and three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection.

Lucas was later drafted in the 2014 WNBA Draft with the Phoenix Mercury’s No. 21 overall pick. In her WNBA career, Lucas played with the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, and Dallas Wings.

Lucas also had stints in international professional leagues, most recently for Lulea in Sweden (where she won a league championship and finals MVP) and Dinamo Sassari in Italy (where she was named to the All-Euro Cup first team).

This offseason has been a busy one for both the Lady Lions players and coaches. In May alone, the team added three transfer players and two new assistant coaches, as well as Lucas in her original role. Penn State opted to extend head coach Carolyn Kieger’s contract in April.