UE women’s basketball hires Zhaque Gray as Assistant Coach
Gray joins the Purple Aces after a year with Bowling Green
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team and Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells have announced Zhaque Gray will be joining the program as an Assistant Coach.
The Purple Aces add another Assistant Coach with championship experience with the hiring of Zhaque (zhah-QWAY) Gray. Gray comes to Evansville after spending a year as the Director of Player Personnel with Bowling Green following a transition to coaching from a corporate sales career. Gray initially began her collegiate basketball journey at Penn State as a guard from 2008-2012.
I am so excited to add Zhaque to our staff!” says Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. “Her character and her outlook on life and basketball immediately stood out to me through our interview process. Additionally, I love that she was part of building a championship team as a player at Penn State as well as working under a championship-winning coach last season at Bowling Green State. Her experiences will be invaluable for our program as we seek to build our program and win championships,”.
During her year with the Falcons, Gray was part of a staff that guided BGSU to a winning record and a postseason tournament berth despite dealing with a short bench throughout the year. The Falcons were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference in 2023-24 and finished the year tied for fourth despite losing an estimated 126 player-games to injury. BGSU also advanced to the postseason with Gray on staff, appearing in the first round of the WNIT.
Prior to her time at Bowling Green, Gray was a graduate assistant at Saint Francis University for the 2022-23 season.
Gray began her collegiate basketball career on the floor as a guard for Penn State from 2008-2012. With the Lady Lions, Gray was a 2012 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection and finished her career seventh in program history in three-point field goals made with 149. During her four years in University Park, Gray ranked in the Top 20 in career three-point field goals made and free throw percentage at 78.2%.
Gray played all four years at Penn State, including the Lady Lions 2011-12 Big Ten title season. Gray started in all 33 games that season and was third on the team in points per game with an average of 10.6 points. Gray also hit 48 three-pointers in her final season at Penn State, helping the Lady Lions make a run to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.
After her time with Penn State, Gray played a season of professional basketball in Wasserburg, Germany, where she helped her team to a league championship. The following year in 2014, Gray made the training camp roster of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. She was among more than 40 players who attended a Sky open tryout session and became the first open-tryout participant in franchise history to earn an invite to training camp.
Gray is a native of Chicago and is a graduate of John Hope College Preparatory H.S. With the Lady Eagles Gray participated in three Chicago Public League championships and was the only unanimous selection to the 3A All-State First Team in her senior season of 2007-08.
