Keri DeGraffenreid (Hessel) begins her seventh season as an assistant coach at Missouri S&T after spending the previous three seasons assisting the program as a student assistant and then a graduate assistant coach following her days as a Lady Miner player. Hessel moved into a full-time role as a coach prior to the 2006-07 season.
“We were fortunate to have Keri here and in this position,” said Lady Miner head coach Alan Eads. “She has a good basketball background as she played and her father is a high school coach.” Eads added. “I think her background here at the university helps her a great deal in assisting our program."
During the six seasons DeGraffenreid has served as an assistant coach, Missouri S&T has posted a record of 109-62 and been in the GLVC Tournament all six times; the Lady Miners also reached the championship game of the 2008 NCAA Great Lakes Regional and the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional.
DeGraffenreid, a native of Kearney, Mo., spent three years as a player for the Lady Miners, appearing in 45 games in that span. She played as a point guard for Missouri S&T and recorded 22 assists in those three seasons before becoming a student assistant coach in her senior year.
Upon earning her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Missouri S&T in 2005, DeGraffenreid served as the team’s graduate assistant during the 2005-06 season when the Lady Miners finished with a 17-11 record.
As a high school player at Kearney High School, DeGraffenreid scored more than 1,000 points and set the school record for career assists.
She is married to S&T baseball coach Todd DeGraffenreid.
