University of Albany

Honors and Accomplishments

• Has developed:
  • 12 All-America East selections
  • Four America East All-Defensive team members
  • Four America East All-Academic team honorees
  • Four America East All-Rookie selections
• Led Morgan Haney to become the 2021-22 America East Sixth Player of the Year
• Coached Helene Haegerstrand as she earned 2022-23 America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and was named an AE Woman of the Year finalist

Postseason Appearances

Coaching Experience

Colleen Mullen was hired as the head coach for the University at Albany in May 2018 ahead of the 2018-19 season. 

Mullen began her coaching career in collegiate basketball as the Director of Women's Basketball Operations at Northern Illinois University in 2004. After one season in Illinois, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Division II Southern New Hampshire University. 

She made the jump to Division I in spending a season at Lehigh University (2007-08) and two seasons as Long Island University (2009-11). Gaining experience as a DI recruiting coordinator in her final season at LIU, Mullen joined the Black Knight staff at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2011. After just one season with Army, she was promoted to Associate Head Coach, where she stayed until her departure for UAlbany in 2018.
 

Education

Mullen earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire in 2003. She continued her education and graduated with a Master in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University in 2006.
 

At UAlbany

2022-23
The 'road warriors' of 2022-23, the Great Danes played all of their home games off campus due to the renovation of SEFCU Arena. Starting off the season with three consecutive wins, home over Merrimack, their second-straight Albany Cup victory over Siena, and a road win at Navy, UAlbany finished the non-conference season with an 11-2 record at home. Owning a 14-2 conference record in the regular season, the Great Danes were named America East Co-Regular Season Champions. Tied at the half, UAlbany defeated seventh-seeded UMass Lowell in the America East quarterfinals before taking on third-seeded Maine at HVCC for the semifinals. In a first half that saw 13 lead changes, the Great Danes were able to pull away with the advantage just before halftime. Despite an even game moving forward, UAlbany advanced to its second consecutive America East Championship after defeating the Black Bears, 72-64. In a defensive contest between the Co-Regular Season Champs, the Great Danes fell to first seed Vermont, 38-36. Ellen Hahne and Kayla Cooper were named to the All-Tournament Team while Grace Heeps earned the Elite-18 award, given to those who exemplify excellence both in their sport and in the classroom.

Continuing play in a national tournament for the second year in a row, UAlbany closed the season competing in the WNIT First Round at UMass, the A10 Regular Season Champions. Overall, three Great Danes were honored with postseason awards from the America East - Helene Haegerstrand & Kayla Cooper (AE First Team All-Conference, All-Academic) and Ellen Hahne (AE Third Team All-Conference & All-Defensive Team). Haegerstrand closed the season of awards being named the AE Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an AE Woman of the Year Finalist. Cooper and Haegerstrand finished top-five in the conference with 15.2 and 14.2 ppg, respectively. Cooper added top five numbers in defensive rpg, offensive rpg, and total rpg. Hahne (apg), Haegerstrand (bpg), and Decortes (bpg) ranked top 10 in their respective stat categories. As a team, UAlbany finished first in the league in field goal defense and rebound margin.

Recognized for their efforts nationally, the Great Danes finished the 2022-23 season ranked sixth in the nation in three-point field goal defense and 14th in the nation in scoring defense. Throughout the season, UAlbany consistently earned a spot on the College Insider Mid-Major Poll. With their highest ranking coming in at number 14, the Great Danes first saw time on the list with the number 19 spot before the season began. Proven with a number two finish on the WBCA's Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list, UAlbany also excelled in the classroom. Voted on by their peers, the Great Danes earned the UAlbany Friends of Jaqueline Award for the sports team that completed the most community service at the annual Great Dane Awards in May 2023. 

2021-22
After opening the 2021-22 season with a 29-point win over Hofstra, the 2022 America East Tournament Champions went on to total seven 20+ point victories and 15 double-digit wins throughout the season. Coaching a historic season, Mullen led the team to the NCAA Tournament, tallying 50 career wins after totaling her first 20-win season as a head coach. With a big second-half showing from Freja Werth (4-4 from downtown), the second-seeded Great Danes defeated seventh-seeded New Hampshire, 49-44, in the America East quarterfinal. After taking down third-seeded Vermont, 67-54, in the semifinal, UAlbany traveled to Maine for the championship game. An early lead and a game-changing performance from Morgan Haney (4-5 from behind the arc) led to an upset over for the America East championship title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Kayla Cooper was named the America East Tournament MOP while Ellen Hahne was named to the All-Tournament team. UAlbany traveled to face #1 Louisville in the NCAA Tournament First Round.

Overall, five Great Danes were honored with postseason awards from the America East - Morgan Haney (Sixth Player of the Year), Helene Haegerstrand (First Team All-Conference), Kayla Cooper (Second Team All-Conference), Lucia Decortes (All-Defensive Team), and Lilly Phillips (All-Rookie Team). Haegerstrand finished in the top-10 of the conference with 11.8 ppg, Cooper finished in the top four in defensive rpg, offensive rpg, and total rpg, and Decortes led the league with 1.6 bpg and 44 total blocks. As a tem, the Great Danes finished the season on top of the conference in scoring defense.

Recognized for their efforts nationally, the Great Danes finished the 2021-22 season ranked second in the nation in scoring defense. An all-around team, UAlbany also earned a spot in the WBCA Academic Top 25 (#22) as well as earning the athletic department's Friends of Jaqueline Award for community service.

2020-21
In her third season with UAlbany, Mullen coached the team to the America East Tournament Semifinal. The Great Danes defeated New Hampshire in the quarterfinal 49-43 to advance to the semifinal at Maine, where they took a 67-47 defeat. Overall, the team was 7-11 with a 5-7 America East record during the 2020-21 season. She coached two players to America East All-Conference honors: Helene Haegerstrand First Team and Kayla Cooper All-Rookie Team. Haegerstrand led UAlbany with 10.4 points per game and record two 20+ point games. Transfer Ellen Hahne from Wake Forest recorded a double-double in her first two games with UAlbany and finished top-five in the conference with 6.8 rebounds per game. Lucia Decortes led the America East with 28 total blocks and 1.6 blocks per game.  

2019-20
In her second season at the helm, Mullen and the Great Danes saw two athletes earn All-Conference honors. Senior Alexi Schecter was tabbed to the Third Team, and freshman Helene Haegerstrand earned All-Rookie accolades. UAlbany finished 9-21 and 5-11 in America East play. The Great Danes drew top-seeded Stony Brook in the conference quarterfinals, giving the Seawolves all they can handle in an overtime battle ending in a 54-49 defeat. Schecter paced the UAlbany offense with four 20+ point games, which was highlighted with a 31-point performance in the team’s season opener against Columbia. Haegerstrand tallied her first collegiate double-double against UMBC, and emerged as one of the top scoring rookies in the America East. 

2018-19
In her first season at the helm, Mullen led the team to a fourth-place finish and guided a pair of players to all-conference honors in Heather Forster and Kyara Frames. The Great Danes finished the 2018-19 season with a 13-18 overall record, including a 9-7 clip in America East action.

Playing Career

As a player, Mullen spent two seasons at Rhode Island, leading her team in assists each year before transferring to New Hampshire. A two-year captain, she was one of the top feeders in Wildcat history and finished her two-year career with 218 assists, the 14th-highest mark in school history. Mullen was named to the America East Academic Honor Roll in each of her two seasons. 
 

Prior to UAlbany

Mullen arrived at UAlbany after spending the previous seven seasons at Army West Point. Mullen joined Army’s staff as an assistant coach in July 2011 and was promoted to associate head coach a year later. Mullen made her way to West Point after two years at Long Island University, where she was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator. She also spent a season as an assistant coach at Lehigh.

A proven point guard as a collegiate player for both Rhode Island and New Hampshire, Mullen has continued to cultivate her expertise at the guard position since entering the coaching ranks. 

At Army, Mullen worked primarily with Army’s guards. She worked closely with the Patriot League career scoring leader Kelsey Minato from 2012 to 2016 and helped lead the Black Knights to four straight 20-win seasons and four consecutive appearances in national postseason tournaments. The Black Knights reached the NCAA Tournament and earned Patriot League championships in 2016 and 2014, and played in the WNIT in 2015 and 2013.

Mullen helped the Black Knights extend their streak of 20 wins in a single season to five after Army captured 22 wins during the 2016-17 season.

Army completed the best season in team history in 2015-16, reaching a program-record 29 victories as part of a 29-3 overall record to match the Patriot League standard for most wins in a season. The 29 wins also gave the Cadets their fourth consecutive 20-win season to mark the longest streak of that kind in team history.

The Black Knights finished 17-1 in Patriot League play in 2015-16 and entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. Army set a number of Patriot League records that season, including widest margin of victory (+19.5), lowest opponent scoring average (50.8), and highest three-point percentage (.410). The Black Knights also rattled of 19 wins in a row during the year to establish new Patriot League and Academy records.

Minato garnered a number of accolades during her outstanding senior season in 2015-16, including espnW Mid-Major Player of the Year, All-Met Division I Player of the Year, and being selected All-America honorable mention by the Associated Press and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Minato earned her third Patriot League Player of the Year nod to join 2003 Bucknell graduate Molly Creamer as the only player in league history to do so, and become the conference’s only player to be a first-team selection all four years.    

Under Mullen’s watch, Minato finished her senior campaign with an Academy-record 743 points (23.2 points per game) and become the career scoring leader for the school and the Patriot League, with 2,556 points over her four seasons.

The Black Knights drained a program-record 230 three-pointers in 2015-16, while Minato’s 108 marked the most by a single player in team history. 

During the 2014-15 season, Mullen worked primarily with Army’s guards in helping lead the team to its program-record third straight appearance in a national postseason tournament, as the Black Knights reached the WNIT following berths in the NCAA Tournament and the WNIT in 2014 and 2013, respectively. Army finished the season 23-8 to mark its third straight 20-win season, also a program first.

In 2013-14, Mullen helped develop an Army backcourt that led the Black Knights to their second NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I program.

Army's backcourt shined in 2012-13, as Minato became the first in Patriot League history to be voted Player and Rookie of the Year, while the Black Knights had two first-team All-Patriot League selections for the first time in program history, with both honorees being guards (Minato, Anna Simmers).

The Black Knights' high-scoring perimeter unit helped Army average its highest scoring output since 2007-08 thanks in large part to the second-most accurate three-point shooting contingent in the Patriot League. The Black Knights' success rate beyond the arc was their highest since 2008-09, while their 158 triples were the most Army had made since 2004-05.

The Black Knight ball handlers were the most precise in the conference during Mullen's first season as associate head coach, as Army led the Patriot League in least turnovers per game and ranked as high as ninth in the nation in the category.

During her seven-year coaching tenure prior to Army, Mullen churned out a plethora of decorated guards and secured top-rated recruiting classes. In her two seasons at Long Island, she helped lead the Blackbirds to an appearance in the Northeast Conference finals and helped record the second-highest win total in program history with a 22-10 mark in 2009-10. She mentored two-time first team All-NEC player Ashley Palmer, while point guard Kiara Evans ranked eighth nationally in assists per game (6.4) under Mullen's watch.

Her duties at Long Island also included managing the program's budget, overseeing the assistant coaching staff, coordinating all on and off campus recruitment and serving as the academic coordinator. The Blackbirds successfully improved their overall team grade-point average from a 2.84 in 2010 to a 3.19 in 2011. A proven recruiter, her first recruiting class was ranked 88th nationally by All-Star Girls Basketball Report. 

Prior to her tenure at Long Island, Mullen spent 2007-08 at Lehigh, where she oversaw player development with an emphasis on the backcourt. During her short stint at Lehigh, she guided three of the program's top guards - Erica Prosser, Tricia Smith and Alex Ross - to All-Patriot League selections. All three players went on to garner major Patriot League honors and help Lehigh to back-to-back conference titles. 

In addition to her coaching duties at Lehigh, she also oversaw compliance, marketing, team travel, equipment, academics, alumni relations, community outreach, facilities and game management. 

Mullen spent 2005-07 as the top assistant at Southern New Hampshire after serving as the director of basketball operations at Northern Illinois in 2004-05.

Personal

Mullen and her wife, Lauren, reside in Bethlehem, N.Y., and have three children: Maggie and twin sons, Brennan and Callan.