UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's basketball associate head coach Adam Fisher has been selected to participate in the 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium, a prestigious program that provides the nation's top assistant coaches with leadership development and networking opportunities.
Fisher enters his first season as associate head coach with the Nittany Lions after spending the previous eight seasons with the Miami Hurricanes. From Jamison, Pennsylvania, Fisher was integral to one of the most successful spans in Miami basketball history. The Hurricanes recorded four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances from 2014-15 through 2017-18 with NBA Draft selections in three consecutive years and numerous All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) accolades during Fisher's tenure. Fisher, a 2006 Penn State alum, also owns previous experience with Villanova, Boston University and Penn State.
The TopConnect symposium will take place Aug. 17-18. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7), which began in 2003, identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major athletic directors, providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
TopConnect develops educational programming that allows these top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders and speakers. The 2021 virtual symposium is headlined by a panel of prominent and successful head coaches in Tina Langley, head women's basketball coach at Washington, and Mike Rhoades, head men's basketball coach at VCU. Sessions include a panel of mid-major athletic directors who recently completed a basketball coaching search, a breakout session on the first 100 days on the job from recent head coaching hires during the past year, navigating the media, a small group setting with search firm representatives from across the country and a panel on coaches who are entering their second year and the lessons they've learned. The three-word mantra of "Connect. Prepare. Lead." identifies the purpose of TopConnect.
TopConnect continues to pave the way in development of the next generation of leaders in college athletics. Since its inception in 2018, seventeen attendees have been hired as Athletic Director, Head Men's Basketball Coach or Head Women's Basketball Coach.
Men's Basketball:
Dwayne Killings, University at Albany; Kyle Neptune, Fordham University; Tony Stubblefield, DePaul University; Greg Gary, Mercer University; Kim English, George Mason University; Brett Nelson, College of the Holy Cross; Rashon Burno, Northern Illinois University; Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois University; Steve Lutz, Texas A&M, Corpus Christi; Isaac Brown, Wichita State University; Drew Valentine, Loyola University, Chicago; and Jay Young, Fairfield University.
Women's Basketball:
Ganiyat Adeduntan, Colgate University; Mark Campbell, California State University – Sacramento and Cayla Petree, Morehead State University
Director of Athletics:
Randale Richmond, Kent State University and Dr. Trayvean Scott, Grambling State University
