Head Coach Joe Key enters his 18th year at Wheeling Jesuit University, his eleventh as head coach. Key, no stranger to winning with 177 victories, is the most successful coach in the history of the program.
Key coached the Lady Cards to their first WVIAC Conference Tournament Championship and first round appearance in the NCAA tourney last season. Key’s teams have never had a losing season. An assistant for seven years, Key was a coach of the 1993-1994 conference champion and national tournament team.
Prior to coaching at Wheeling Jesuit, Key was the head basketball and tennis coach at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy.
During this time he helped develop and promote women’s basketball throughout the Valley. Coach Key was the cofounder of the Ohio Valley YBOA program, and former executive director of the Ohio Valley Amateur Athletic Union Association, which provides off-season competition for many young women in the Ohio Valley.
A Wheeling native, Key has a deep commitment to the community. His “Adopt-a-Player” program pairs players and staff from the Lady Cardinal squad with local grade and middle school basketball teams, and is committed to providing positive female role models for local youngsters.
Coach Key’s community commitment isn’t limited to basketball. He is also concerned with the social and economic development of the area, and serves on several boards of directors, including the North Wheeling Community Association and Wheeling Neighborhood Ventures. Coach Key was also appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Board of Commissioners for the Wheeling Housing Authority.
Pam Oswald begins her second season as an assistant coach at Wheeling Jesuit. She was an integral part of the success the Lady Cards enjoyed in the 04-05 season.
Her responsibilities include on-the-floor coaching of post players, strength/ conditioning, recruitment of student-athletes, and academic monitoring.
Oswald spent three years at Kent State, working with guards and post players (developing two All-MAC selection post players), scouting opponents, film exchange and recruitment. While she was at Kent State the Golden Flashes were the 2002 Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament champions, participating in the NCAA tournament in 2002 and the WNIT in 2004.
A native of Berlin, OH, Oswald joined the Flashes after spending 2 seasons as an assistant at her alma mater, Berlin-Hiland H.S., where she helped coach the team to a 2000 Division IV State Championship.
A 1995 graduate of Malone College in Canton, OH, Oswald, a 4-year starter for the Pioneers, eclipsed the 1,000 mark in both points and rebounds. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications/ Broadcast.
Coach Kim Traversa-Appolloni begins her second year as an assistant at Wheeling Jesuit after spending 16 years as a high school head coach. Known as the defensive specialist of the WJU women’s basketball team, she is also responsible for coaching the guards.
She began her coaching career at St. John Central High School, where she spent six years. While she was at St. John’s her teams captured five OVAC championships, five sectional championships and two district championships. She spent 10 years at Martins Ferry H.S. where she is a computer instructor. During her tenure at Martins Ferry the Lady Riders were OVAC champions three times and two-time sectional & district champs. Her career record stands at 264-98.
Coach Traversa-Appolloni graduated from The Ohio State University in 1988 with a BS in Biology, and earned a master’s in Education from Marygrove University in 2004.
