Skip to content
College Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Holy Family names new men’s, women’s basketball coaches

R.C. Kehoe and Melissa Dunne were let go earlier this year. Replacing them are former assistant Ryan Haigh and Bernadette Laukaitis, an alumna of the program and an assistant at Penn the last 10 years.

R.C. Kehoe was let go last year.
R.C. Kehoe was let go last year.Read moreLou Rabito

Holy Family University named its new men’s and women’s basketball coaches, promoting its top men’s assistant coach and bringing back one of its all-time greats to lead the women’s program.

Ryan Haigh is the new men’s coach, promoted after spending the previous eight seasons as an assistant with the Tigers. He succeeds R.C. Kehoe, who was let go after this past season.

Bernadette Laukaitis, a three-year team captain in the late 1990s and 2000, was named as coach of the women’s team, succeeding Melissa Dunne, who was let go after the season. Laukaitis comes to the program after working for 10 years as an assistant at Penn.

“Ryan has proved over the past eight seasons he has what it takes to lead the men’s basketball program,” athletic director Tim Hamill said of Haigh in a statement. “I’m fully confident that he will guide the team to new heights and continue a long tradition of success."

Haigh, a Philadelphia native who attended Father Judge, played for the Tigers, finishing his career with 1,679 points, fifth in program history. He also ranks fourth in program history in three-pointers (278) and fifth in steals (174).

Referring to Laukaitis, Hamill said in a release: “I can’t think of anyone better to lead our women’s basketball team and take the program to the next level.”

Laukaitis’ role at Penn included recruiting and scouting, as well as on-court instruction. During her tenure with the Quakers, they won four Ivy League titles and two Big 5 championships.

In a news release, she said she was honored to be named coach at Holy Family.

“It truly is my dream job, as it is a place that I have an enormous amount of pride and passion for, both as a player, assistant coach, and now as a head coach," she said. “As it is difficult to leave a special place like Penn, I believe it has helped shape me and prepared me for this moment.

Before coaching at Penn, Laukaitis spent the 2008-09 season as head coach at Division III Cabrini College, which won the 2009 Colonial States Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the Division III NCAA Tournament.

Laukaitis ranks fifth in Holy Family’s record book in steals (247) and ninth in assists (372).