May 22, 2006
DAYTON, Ohio - University of Dayton women's basketball Head Coach Jim Jabir has made another addition to his coaching staff with the hiring of Melanie Halker on Tuesday. Halker comes to Dayton from Indiana State where she helped the Sycamores to the WNIT last season.
"We are very happy to welcome Melanie to our UD family," Jabir said. "She brings experience and passion to a program that is looking to continue its growth from last season."
Halker served as an assistant coach at ISU for the past two years and led the Sycamores through their most successful seasons in program's history. Indiana State recorded a school-record 27 victories in 2005-06 and dominated the Missouri Valley Conference with a 16-2 record and the program's first ever outright MVC Regular Season title.
The Sycamores participated in the 2006 Preseason and Postseason WNIT under Halker's direction. She also tutored the 2005 MVC Newcomer of the Year as well as the 2006 MVC Player of the Year.
Halker had worked as an assistant coach for the previous two seasons with the Siena (N.Y.) women's basketball program. At her alma mater, she helped lead the Siena program to back-to-back MAAC Conference Championships in 2002-03 & 2003-04.
In 2002-03, Halker's Siena squad advanced to the second round of the WNIT, with a victory over Seton Hall. During her time with the Saints, Halker mentored the 2002-03 MAAC Player of the Year and recruited the 2005 MAAC Rookie of the Year.
Following her graduation from Siena in 1999, Halker spanned the globe playing basketball before returning to Loudonville. From 1999 to 2000, she played in Luxembourg. In the fall of 2001, she made a brief stop to play in Israel.
Upon returning to the states, she was hired in the Siena admissions office before moving across campus to the athletic department.
Halker is one of the greatest players ever to pull on a Siena jersey. She is the school's second all-time leading scorer with 2021 career points and is the school's all-time leading rebounder.
She is the only player in school history, male or female, to record 2000 points and 1000 rebounds. She led the Saints in scoring in each of her four years and also posted the top two single-season rebounding totals in school history.
Halker was inducted into the Siena Athletics Hall of Fame during the fall of 2005.
UD has been one of the most improved teams in the nation over the past two seasons under the direction of Head Coach Jim Jabir. In his first season with the Flyers, Dayton won just three games. Last year, UD had the fourth best single-season turnaround in the nation with 12 wins overall for a nine-game improvement. The Flyers have won 17 games in 2005-06 and tied for the second best improvement in the NCAA from the 2003-04 season to the 2005-06 campaign.
Dayton's 17-12 regular season record was not only one of the best turnarounds in the nation, but is among the most successful seasons in Flyer women's basketball history. UD hit the 17-win plateau for just the second time in its Division I history and the first time since in 22 years. This season's win total matches the third most wins since the 1984-85 season. Dayton was also 8-8 in Atlantic 10 regular season games, which was one shy of its most ever wins in A-10 play.
