Colgate University Athletics

Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort selected Melissa D’Amico for the women’s basketball staff in July 2013.

Hays Fort and D’Amico faced off against each other as rivals in the Big East Conference. Hays Fort served from 2005-10 as associate head coach at DePaul, while D’Amico lettered four seasons at Notre Dame under head coach Muffet McGraw from 2004-08.

“Melissa’s experience at Notre Dame provides our student-athletes with first-hand experience on playing at an elite level both in college and the professional ranks,” Hays Fort said. “Her accomplishments and success both on the court and in the classroom while at Notre Dame make her a great fit for our staff.

“Melissa is a great role model for our student-athletes with the loyalty, dedication and competitive spirit she brings to the program.”

D’Amico’s overseas professional basketball playing experience dates to 2008, and she has made stops in Spain, China, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic. Her most recent club was DSK Karlin in Prague since last August.

D’Amico played in 119 games for the Fighting Irish, starting 58. Notre Dame in those four years made an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance, was 86-41 overall and 43-21 in the Big East Conference.

A native of the Long Island hamlet of Manorville, New York, D’Amico when not playing has been a frequent coach and camp counselor. She was an assistant with a pair of Czech Republic junior national teams, DSK Karlin in Prague and Slovanka in Vodochody. Back in the States, she has worked with Training for Success in Northport, New York; the Northport Lady Tiger Basketball Camp; the Stony Brook University Men’s and Women’s Basketball Camps and the Long Island Renegades U15 AAU team.

D’Amico describes her key skills as a coach as sports enhancement and agility training, player development, practice and game planning, scouting report and player evaluations, and individual and team workouts.