The Kennebec Journal

WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Veilleux thriving at Navy

By Gary Hawkins ghawkins@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

BY GARY HAWKINS

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Cony High School graduate Julie Veilleux, third from left, is now an assistant coach at Navy.

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Staff Writer

Basketball has been the focal point of Julie Veilleux's life for most of her 28 years.

After playing for a state championship team at Cony High School, she moved on to a successful basketball career at the University of Maine. Veilleux has since become an assistant coach, first at Bowdoin College and now at the U.S. Naval Academy.

"I think I always wanted basketball to be a part of my life somehow," she said.

Former Maine coach Sharon Versyp saw Veilleux as a potential coach while she was still a player for the Black Bears. They would talk strategy all the time.

"Usually you do that with your point guards," Versyp said at the time, "but I talk to Julie more than any other player. The one thing with Julie, she really understands what the game plan is."

When Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper sought an assistant, she called Versyp for a recommendation and Veilleux's name came up.

"Sharon spoke really highly of her," Pemper said.

Veilleux spent three years with Pemper at Bowdoin, one of the top Division III women's basketball schools in the country. And when Pemper had a chance for a Division I job at Navy two years ago, Veilleux went with her.

"She was ready to leave Bowdoin anyway," Pemper said. "She wanted to go Division I. It kind of worked out great."

Pemper has turned the program around. The Mids won 16 games in her first season after winning just seven the previous year. This year they won 17 games and Veilleux has been a big part of it. In addition to working with post players, Veilleux works on scouting reports, game plans and is involved in recruiting.

"I would say her best strength is how proactive she is with practice ideas," Pemper said. "She's also great in recruiting and home visits because of her personality." Veilleux said she has come a long way since her early days at Bowdoin.

"I'm definitely more comfortable where I can lead and have a sense of the bigger picture of things," she said. "I've grown tenfold since I came out of college."

Veilleux wasn't sure what to expect from recruits at a military school. But she was a little surprised the first time she saw the team do pushups.

"They were the worst pushups I've ever seen," she said.

Pemper said the poor pushups reflected a lack of pride in themselves and the program and it's since been corrected. She's always viewed athletics as a building blocks toward leadership but it takes on an added dimension at a military school.

"After they graduate in six months, they're going to be heading up little teams of their own," she said.

Navy is among a group of perhaps 200 teams in Division I that is a couple of steps below the top two tiers. But the team has an advantage in that it has a national base from which to recruit while most of the teams in the Patriot League recruit players regionally.

"The month of July is very busy," Veilleux said. "We're traveling all over the country because that's our recruiting month."

Coaching at Division I is a year-round job for Veilleux and the other members of Pemper's staff. When they're not recruiting, they're preparing players for the season with strength and conditioning drills.

Veilleux hasn't given much thought to becoming a head coach. She's happy to help develop Navy into a regional power.

"Julie could be a great head coach," Pemper said. "But you really have to want to do it. Good assistant coaches are just as special as good head coaches."

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com