Several New Staff To Begin Working At UEÂ Athletics DepartmentÂ
Several new staff members have joined the University of Evansville Athletics Department during the summer of 2017. The department welcome these staff members and coaches to the Purple Aces.
Erik Brown – Assistant Athletic Trainer
Erik Brown has been hired to replace Troy Coppus as an Assistant Athletic Trainer and Instructor in the Athletic Training Education program. Troy left Athletics to become the Clinical Education Coordinator for the UE Athletic Training Education Program.
Erik is no stranger to Southern Indiana, he attended Heritage Hills High School. He attended DePauw University for his under graduate schooling. He completed a master’s degree from Indiana University and a second master’s degree from California University Pennsylvania.
Most recently he served as the Athletic Training Education Clinical Coordinator for Wheeling Jesuit University.
He has experience in a variety of sports including: Baltimore Orioles minor league baseball, NBA top 100 Prospects Camp, and the Maccabia USA team participating in the 2017 Maccabia Games.
Joe Downs – Director of Media Relations
Joe Downs makes his way to the UE athletic department after spending the last five years as the Sports Director at WFIE in Evansville. Downs came to the Tri-State area with nearly two decades of broadcasting experience and has worked his way from behind the camera to in front of it, starting out as a videographer in his hometown of Portland, Maine.
Since then, he has been a sportscaster in Colorado, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Ohio. He came to Evansville after a stint as the Sports Director at WFIE’s sister station in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
In his career, Joe has covered everything from NFL and NHL playoff games, the BCS Title Game, the FCS Title Game, Major League Baseball and some of the best high school football in the Nation.
Joe is a lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan, but also roots for the Celtics and the Yankees. In fact, he grew up idolizing Evansville native Don Mattingly. He is married with two daughters and looks forward to making “the Pocket City” his home for years to come.
Carson Harris – Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
Carson Harris returned to the University of Evansville in 2017 as an assistant men’s basketball coach. Harris was an assistant under head coach Marty Simmons from 2010 until 2015 when he took the position of head coach at Marian University. He spent two seasons pacing the Knights.
He joined the UE staff in 2009 as director of basketball operations. A three-time all-North Central Conference guard at Lafayette Jeff High School and a three-time all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection at Manchester (Ind.) College, Harris stayed on at Manchester as an assistant coach for two years following his graduation in 2001. He then coached three years at Earlham College and three years at DePauw University before making the move to the Division I level in the summer of 2009. He and his wife Ali have two children.
Jake Hill – External Affairs Intern
Jake Hill began his time at UE in June 2017. He will be serving the Purple Aces as an External Affairs Intern.
Hill comes to UE after graduating with his master’s degree in Sports Management from Western Illinois University. During his time at WIU, Jake served as a marketing and promotions intern, focusing strongly on graphic design as well as game-day operations and development. During his undergraduate studies he also assisted with the university’s ESPN 3 athletic productions. He is originally from Machesney Park, IL.
Kayla Katterhenry – Golf Graduate Assistant
One of the top golfers in UE and Missouri Valley Conference history joins the coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2017 as Kayla Katterhenry will continue working with the Purple Aces while obtaining her master’s degree at UE.
Katterhenry won the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship and, in doing so, set the all-time league mark with 11 individual victories. Her efforts resulted in her being named the 2017 MVC Women’s Golfer of the Year. Over her 4-year career, Katterhenry set the program mark with a 75.86 stroke average while being a 4-time All-Conference First Team golfer.
She is originally from Newburgh, Ind. and graduated from Castle High School. Katterhenry earned her degree in Management from UE in 2017.
John Metelko – Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach
John Metelko returns to the University of Evansville in 2017 to serve as assistant coach for the cross country and track and field teams. A 2005 Evansville graduate, Metelko returns to UE after serving as head coach at Viterbo University for cross country for the past 9 years, and track and field for the past 6.
Since 2008, Metelko built the Viterbo cross country program from one which had been discontinued twice due to a lack of interest, into a solid program with over 28 student- athletes in the program, each of the last seven years. Additionally, Metelko grew the track and field team to have over 80 student-athletes.
Before being a head coach, Metelko served as a volunteer assistant cross country coach at UE in 2005. Prior to his coaching experience at Evansville, Metelko found success as a student-athlete under Coach Don Walters. During his time as a student- athlete he was chosen as recipient of the Most Improved Runner Award and the team’s 110% Effort Award. He also helped the men’s UE cross country team to their best finishes to date at the Indiana Intercollegiate, MVC, and NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships.
Metelko graduated from the University of Evansville with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Metelko and his wife Beth will reside in Evansville with their three daughters.
Kayli Miller – External Affairs Intern
Kayli Miller joined the University of Evansville Athletics Department in June 2017 as an External Affairs Intern.
She received her B.S. in Marketing from Illinois State University in May of 2017. While attending ISU, Kayli interned with Redbird Athletics, both in the marketing and ticket sales departments. She also interned with the Peoria Chiefs, a Minor League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, during the 2016 season. Kayli is originally from Minier, Illinois.
Melissa Rabell – Volleyball Graduate Assistant
Melissa Rabell joins the Aces volleyball staff as a graduate assistant. She was a student-athlete at North Carolina Central where she played volleyball from 2011 through 2015. Rabell graduated Magna Cum Laude and made the Dean’s List on six occasions. She also garnered the NCCU Athletics True Grit Award in 2013 and 2014.
Rabell spent time in San Juan, Puerto Rico as an Accounting Auditor at BDO Puerto Rico, P.S.C. She now looks to continue her volleyball career on the coaching side where she has Level I FPV National Coaching Certification. Rabell is also a Gold Medal Squared Volleyball Clinic attendee.
Michael Robertson – Assistant Director of Media Relations
Michael Robertson joined the University of Evansville as Assistant Director of Media Relations in July 2017. Robertson has been involved in college sports information and athletics media relations since 2010.
Robertson comes to UE after serving as the Assistant Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Mount Olive in North Carolina. At Mount Olive, Robertson was the primary contact for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, softball, women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s tennis. Robertson managed statistical operations for his sport responsibilities while also producing webcasts, writing releases, and managing the Trojans’ social media accounts.
Robertson graduated from the University of Southern Indiana, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting. While at USI, Robertson served as a Sports Information student intern for two years. He also worked as a play-by-play announcer for The Edge Radio from 2010-14. While there he was named a part of the Best Sportscast by Intercollegiate Broadcast Systems in 2012, Best Sportscast Finalist in 2013 by College Broadcasting Inc., and Best Play-By-Play Finalist in 2014.
Following the completion of his bachelor’s degree, Robertson continued at Southern Indiana as a Graduate Assistant for two years. Robertson resides in Evansville with his wife, Katie.
Jauwan Scaife – Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
Jauwan Scaife joins the UE women’s basketball program after spending the last two years on the staff at Southeast Missouri State in the same capacity. While at SEMO, he served as the team’s facilities, social media and video/technology coordinator in addition to assisting with recruiting, camps, scouting, player development and other tasks as assigned.
In his first season with the Redhawks, Scaife helped guide Southeast to a fifth-place finish in the OVC with an 8-8 record. SEMO finished the season with an even 15-15 overall record.
Scaife worked closely with the guards including Bri Mitchell, Southeast’s first All-OVC performer since 2008-09. Mitchell’s 13.5 points per game led the Redhawks as well as ranked 10th in the league. She put up a team-best 20 double-digit point performances in the 27 games she played in.
Prior to Southeast, he spent the last two years as a graduate assistant/video coordinator with the Ball State men’s basketball team.
Scaife played four years as a guard at Ball State from 2009-13. He was named Second-Team All-Mid-American Conference in 2012-13 and earned MAC All-Freshman Team honors in 2009-10. Scaife finished his career ranked 14th in program history with 1,326 points, becoming the 26th 1,000-point scorer for the Cardinals. He broke BSU’s career records in three-pointers made (203) and attempted (579), as well.
Scaife graduated in three years at Ball State with a degree in Sport Administration. He remained at BSU to get his master’s in physical education/coaching.
Heather Tarter – Assistant Softball Coach
Heather Tarter joined the Purple Aces softball program in June of 2017.  She spent the 2017 campaign as the Interim Head Coach at IUPUI. After joining the team early in 2016 as an assistant coach, Tarter took the reins of the program and enjoyed great success. She led the Jaguars to an 11-6 mark in Summit League play on her way to conference coach of the year honors.
Her Jaguars were the top seed in the Summit League Tournament and advanced to the championship game for the second year in a row. The team was also received its first-ever postseason bid, playing in the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).
Prior to IUPUI, Tarter was the head coach at Purdue Calumet for three seasons where she led the Peregrines to a 28-8 mark in the program’s inaugural season. The 2014 PUC squad ranked in the top 25 in NAIA Division II in five offensive categories and earned a 2-1 win over Division I Purdue in the fall season.
Originally from Fairbury, Ill., Tarter spent her first two collegiate seasons playing at Kankakee Community College in Illinois. She was a standout catcher for the Cobras where she led the team to a pair of NJCAA Regional titles on her way to being an All-Region player. She finished her career in the Missouri Valley Conference, playing at UNI in her final two years.
Andrea Wallace – Director of Business Operations
Andrea Wallace, a 2006 graduate of the University of Evansville, returns to her alma mater as the Director of Business Operations. She began her career in the sports industry as Assistant Box Office Manager at The Center, now Old National Events Plaza. She quickly transitioned to Ticket Office Manager at Roberts Stadium, Victory Theatre, and Mesker Amphitheatre.
In June of 2011, shortly after marrying her husband, Nick Wallace, she became part of the inaugural Ford Center staff. In this position she gained a lot of industry knowledge as she built a ticket office and ticketing system, literally, from the ground up. Summer of 2014 she took on the responsibilities of Premium Services Manager and was able to build relationships with many business people within the Tri-State community. She joined the Evansville Otters front office staff for their 2016 championship season before transitioning to UE this past winter.
Andrea and Nick have two daughters, Emmalyn and Clara. She is a member of Methodist Temple and is an active member of the local Phi Mu Alumnae Chapter.
Rachel Weigel – Athletic Training Intern
Rachel Weigel will also begin her position this fall with the University of Evansville serving as an Athletic Training Intern. Her primary responsibilities will be with the Volleyball and Softball Teams. She comes to UE from Kent State University where she received a wide variety of experiences with athletic teams and worked as a summer intern with the Philadelphia 76ers. Rachel was on the Dean’s List for four years while at Kent State.
