Paige Emborsky already had a foot in the door coaching basketball.
But while completing a master’s degree as a graduate assistant coach with the women’s basketball program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Emborsky wasn’t anticipating calling the shots right away. But that all changed once Keuka College asked to arrange a phone interview with her in March.
And, after subsequent interviews with the school’s athletic director Jonathan Accardi and search committee members, Emborsky was officially hired as the Wolves’ 14th head coach in their 51 years as a program on May 6. One of over 70 candidates for the position, the 24-year-old Newfane native wasn’t entirely sure she was qualified for the job.
“When I applied, it definitely was a long shot in my head,” Emborsky said. “I thought, ‘Maybe, I’ll just do it and see what happens,’ and it was a shot in the dark, for sure. I did not expect to be even considered for a head coaching position without even being a true assistant yet. … I was not expecting it at all. But I’m extremely happy that I’ve been able to kind of take this leap of faith in being in a head coaching position right now.”
The road to becoming a college coach on the hardwood started with chasing down a different dream as a shooting guard over the last decade. After her high school career with the hometown Panthers ended, Emborsky spent two years at SUNY Niagara, leading the Thunderwolves to a 61-3 record, their first-ever Region III championship and a NJCAA Division II national tournament berth four years ago.
Then, Emborsky traveled cross-country to West Texas and spent two years at Division I Abilene Christian University. With the Wildcats, Emborsky averaged 9.5 minutes in 55 games played and appeared in the Women’s Basketball Invitational three years ago.
With a bonus year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emborsky concluded her career at Division II Daemen in Amherst two years ago. And, in her lone season, Emborsky helped the Wildcats win a third ECC tournament title in four years and reach the national tournament for a fourth straight year, while shooting a nation-best 59.1% from beyond the 3-point arc.
Going beyond drawing plays, Emborsky’s time spent as a player at multiple levels also gave her a different playbook of how to mentor her own players. Emborsky looks forward to combining her knowledge of the game with teaching her players for life beyond the game, like her own coaches did.
“That’s really why I wanted to get into coaching and what I hope to do, but, if it’s anything, I would say just kind of being able to know that they are student athletes and that they are people and they’re not just basketball players,” Emborsky said. “… We have a lot of great kids on the team and they’re going to do really well beyond basketball, and, so just being able to kind of teach them, you don’t have to have your life consumed with your sport, and that you’re a lot more than that.”
With Emborsky’s hire, the Wolves looked for someone to rejuvenate their program. After a 19-6 finish in 2019, Keuka has posted a 17-92 record since and has placed fifth or worse in each of the last four seasons, including a 1-23 mark last year.
Finding a coach with a value system that aligned with the athletics department, and the school overall, was part of Keuka’s criteria for filling the position. In addition to the experience from competing at all levels, having a process-oriented approach made Emborsky the right fit.
“We’re expecting someone who’s going to come in and not afraid to really get after things from a hard-work perspective, get after recruiting and then just right relationship building,” Accardi said. “She’s someone who’s kind of illustrated that or demonstrated that she can build some really strong relationships everywhere she’s gone. And, I think, that’s what recruiting is, and I think she’ll continue to do that.”
Along with building relationships, being detail-oriented is what made Emborsky’s former coaches envision her one day becoming a coach, too. From taking advantage of open gyms, to knowing the scouting report, all the aspects of Emborsky’s routine as a player added up to her overall performance during the game.
Additionally, another element of Emborsky’s playing style was her inner discipline, both on and off the court. If there was an assignment that needed to be completed or a play that needed to be executed, Emborsky prioritized proper execution.
“Her IQ for the game is really high,” SUNY Niagara head coach Nate Beutel said. “She’s a super smart kid, off the court as well. And in her daily approach, Paige takes everything super serious and lets no details slip by her, no stone left unturned. … There were tons of signs that myself, or anybody really, could see that she was going to, probably, find her way into coaching.”
On top of her using her playing career as inspiration, Emborsky has her time as a graduate assistant for the Rams under head coach Beth O’Boyle as another learning tool. Emborsky wasn’t involved in drawing up plays but was involved in creating class schedules, running small errands and being a rebound partner during practices.
VCU had 13 members on its coaching staff, including graduate assistants, last season. But, at the Division III level, Emborsky is anticipating having one assistant coach and, in the future, a student manager.
But the year of being a graduate assistant not only pushed her even further towards a coaching career. Her time and the different roles she served with the Rams also helped her gain a better understanding of the sacrifices for coaching, no matter what the official title is, at all levels.
“Coaching is not a 9-to-5 job, it’s definitely a lifestyle,” Emborsky said. “It’s something that you really have to just take on full steam and know that you’re going to have to sacrifice things, whether it’s holidays, birthdays, family get togethers, personal things going on in your life, sometimes being a coach, that overrides some of those things. And that’s what you kind of have to accept when you take a coaching position of any sort.”