The Stony Brook women’s basketball team has found its next leader.
On Monday, Joy McCorvey was named the 11th head coach in program history by Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron and President Maurie McInnis. After 13 seasons as an assistant coach with Tennessee, Florida State, Michigan and St. John’s — her alma mater — McCorvey will run her own program for the first time in her decorated career.
During her time with those four schools, McCorvey achieved a 286-143 record and made 12 national tournament appearances: eight NCAA tournaments and four Women’s National Invitation Tournament berths.
As one of three final candidates for the position, McCorvey drew Heilbron’s attention through a multitude of attributes.
“She has a proven track record of developing players,” Heilbron said in an interview with The Statesman. “She primarily works with post players. She has great relationships with the women she’s coached. She is a very involved, very detailed coach. In talking to her head coach from Tennessee, she just told me how there were many times Joy would come in and present certain plays and scenarios that they would incorporate into gameplans.”
Heilbron said that McCorvey signed a five-year deal. The program’s goals remain the same with her arrival.
“Hopefully we just continue to get better and elevate,” Heilbron said. “It’s important that we retain the players who are on our current roster and then add to the roster, and that’s Joy’s first order of business.”
In her playing days, McCorvey was a four-year captain and power forward for St. John’s. Between 2007 and 2010, she was a three-time Big East All-Academic Team honoree and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in childhood education in 2010. Following her graduation, she played 20 games in the 2010-11 season for TUS Jena Burgaupark Ladybaskets of the Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga, the premier women’s basketball championship in Germany.
Following former head coach Ashley Langford’s departure, Heilbron immediately began the search for her successor. Alongside Executive Associate Athletic Director Debbie DeJong, Heilbron interviewed candidates at the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.
Since McCorvey is represented by the same agent as both Langford and Caroline McCombs — her predecessor — Heilbron was already familiar with her.
Along with her coaching credentials, McCorvey’s personality off the court is another factor that Heilbron highlighted.
“We’re getting an incredible human being,” Heilbron said. “She is charismatic, she’s caring, she’s experienced. Our women are going to have a leader and a mentor who’s going to help them achieve great things on and off the court.”
