FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jessica Cattani, a fifth-year senior on the FGCU women's basketball team, will join the Western Kentucky program next year as a graduate assistant coach.

"This is a great opportunity for Jess," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "She understands the game as well as any player we have ever had. I think she will be a great coach someday and this gets her foot in the door."

Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) began her time with FGCU as a walk-on and later earned a scholarship in a career that saw her finish 10th in career 3-point field goal percentage (.368). She scored 534 points and finished 12th in career games played (114), 16th in career 3-point field goals attempted (299) and tied Stephanie Haas for 15th in career 3-point field goals made (110). As a senior, she averaged a career-high 6.9 points on an ASUN-best .437 from 3-point range.

In 2017-18, Cattani helped lead the FGCU women's basketball program to a 31-5 record, ASUN regular season and tournament championships and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She scored 10 points in the team's opening round upset of SEC power Missouri.

In her four years on the court following a redshirt season, Cattani led FGCU to a 121-23 record. The team captured three ASUN regular season and tournament championships, and they made the NCAA Tournament three of her four seasons. The other saw the team finish as the runner-up in the WNIT.

Cattani will now join a strong group of former FGCU women's basketball student-athletes in the collegiate coaching ranks. Not only is the current staff completely comprised of former players, but other coaches around the country include Kate (Schrader) Bruce (head coach at Walsh University), Jen Conely (assistant coach at Walsh University), Shannon Murphy (assistant coach at Embry Riddle), Jaime Gluesing (assistant coach at Milwaukee), Brittany Brown (head coach at Community College of Rhode Island) and Betsy Adams (assistant coach at University of the Incarnate Word). Plus, former assistant coach Nicki Collen is in her first year as the head coach of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.

Western Kentucky finished 24-9 last year, including a 12-4 mark in the conference. They captured the Conference-USA tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Oregon State in the opening round.

FGCU SUMMER CAMP
The FGCU women's basketball program is hosting a summer camp June 18-21 in Alico Arena for girls entering grades 5-12 in the fall of 2018. To register, and for more information, visit the camp's website page here. You can also contact director of basketball operations, Mandi Pierce by email at apierce@fgcu.edu or by phone at 239-590-1566.

COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko led the 2017-18 Eagles to another historic season. The Green and Blue finished 31-5 overall and 13-1 in ASUN play, capturing the program's eighth ASUN regular season championship and fifth ASUN tournament championship. The team finished the season ranked 25th in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, produced winning streaks of 12 and 10 games, recaptured the NCAA record for most 3-point field goals made in a season with 431 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons, where the Eagles knocked off 5th-seeded and No. 15 ranked Missouri in the opening round. It was the team's second tournament win over the past three appearances. Over the course of the season, FGCU knocked off three ranked teams - No. 15 Missouri, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 DePaul.

Over the past four seasons, Smesko has guided FGCU to three 30 plus win seasons while recording a 121-23 (.840) overall. The now eight-time ASUN Coach of the Year rallied the 2016-17 team to its seventh straight 25-win campaign, culminating in an ASUN tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2015-16, he was named the espnW mid-major coach of the year following a run that witnessed the Eagles finish a Division-I best ever 33-6. In 2014-15, the team achieved its first-ever top-25 ranking and made another trip to the NCAA Tournament, where the Eagles earned a No. 7 seed and won the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game, toppling No. 10 seed Oklahoma State.

Including this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 14-straight 20-win seasons. He maintains a record of 496-114 (.813) at FGCU, including a 170-16 (.914) mark in ASUN play. Over the past seven seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 106-4 (.964) record in conference play with four undefeated seasons. Smesko earned his 400th career coaching win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma. Entering 2016-17, he ranked among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher, joining Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group. Over the past year, first-year NCAA Division-I head coaches Nancy Fahey (Illinois) and Bart Brooks (Belmont) pushed the list to six.

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the women's basketball program, follow @FGCU_WBB on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook at /FGCUWBB.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.