Michelle Collins is in her sixth season as the head women's basketball coach at Hamilton College. 2016-17 featured a five-game win streak from late November to early December and home victories against NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Colby late in the season. Lauren Getman '18 was named the NESCAC Player of the Week on Dec. 5.
Collins has guided the Continentals to two NESCAC championship quarterfinal appearances and 53 wins overall. She has coached two players to three NESCAC all-conference selections and one all-region pick. Her players have earned 22 NESCAC winter all-academic team honors in five seasons.
In 2015-16 Sam Graber '16 made the all-conference second team and she was ranked in the top 10 in the NESCAC in several statistical categories. One player was fifth in assists per game and another was sixth in blocked shots. In 2013-14 the Hamilton women set a team record for most 3-pointers made in a season. The team finished 2012-13 ranked 17th in Division III in fewest turnovers per game and 22nd in scoring defense under Collins.
Collins was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Siena College for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. She led SUNY Oswego as its head coach for seven seasons prior to her second stint as an assistant at Division I Siena. She has also served as an assistant coach at Canisius College and the University at Buffalo.
Collins was responsible for the skill development of Siena's point guards. She had a hand in recruiting two all-conference players and one of the top 3-point shooters in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) history. Collins assisted with scouting and game and practice planning and implementation.
At Oswego, Collins led the program to heights it had never approached. She posted an overall record of 114-73 for a .610 winning percentage from 2000 to 2007. The Lakers won just five games in her first season but in 2003-04 the team recorded the first of four straight 20-win seasons and played in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate tournament.
Collins' 2004-05 Oswego team may have been her best. The Lakers set a program record with 24 wins, reached the championship game of the SUNYAC tournament and participated in the NCAA championship for the first time in team history.
In 2005-06, Collins guided Oswego to a 21-7 record, the team's first SUNYAC tournament title and a second straight NCAA bid. She was selected coach of the year by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York following that season. In her final season with the Lakers, the team reached the conference tournament final for the third straight year and made the 2007 ECAC Upstate Tournament.
Collins coached a SUNYAC player of the year, two conference rookies of the year and eight different players to all-conference honors. Oswego posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or better for three consecutive seasons.
Collins enjoyed an outstanding career at Siena where she graduated with a degree in social work. The two-time all-conference pick and four-year letter winner still holds team records for most assists in a career (498) and a season (206), as well as steals in a season with 97. Collins tied the MAAC record with 5.69 assists per game for her career.
