Former Harrisburg High Hoops Star Tapped to Coach Women’s Basketball at Central Penn College
Central Penn College (CPC) has tapped a former Harrisburg High School stand-out to lead its women’s basketball team.
CPC Athletic Director Kasey Hicks recently announced the hiring of Harrisburg native Stasia King, noting she will be a great fit for the Lady Knights, who, last year, for the first time in the school’s 141-year history, received a bid to the USCAA National Championship Tournament.
King’s basketball journey began at Harrisburg High School, where she garnered multiple accolades and even had a day named in her honor for her outstanding high school career. She went on to play for Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she was a key member of four consecutive Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) teams and active in various organizations, including the NAACP Chapter and Black Student Union.
Upon graduating from Duquesne with a bachelor’s degree in 2015, Coach King started coaching at Central Dauphin East High School before reuniting with her alma mater and joining the coaching staff of the Harrisburg Lady Cougars girls’ basketball team.
Along with Coach Dwan Lee, she played an integral role in the team’s victories, securing the 2018 District 3 5A PIAA District Championship and the 2018 District 3 5A PIAA Mid-Penn Conference Championship.
Recently, Coach King completed a three-year coaching stint with Duquesne’s women’s basketball team. In the 2022-2023 season, she helped lead the team to an impressive 19-11 record.
In March, for the first time in the college’s 141-year history, the women’s basketball team at Central Penn received a bid to the USCAA National Championship Tournament.
Hicks lauded the school’s trailblazing season, saying, “This is the first time any women’s program at Central Penn College has made a post-season national tournament. This is huge for the program, our students, and the campus community. The women’s basketball team has had their sights on the USCAA National Championships for several seasons in a row now,” Hicks added. “I am thrilled to be here to witness history in the making.”
Last season, the Lady Knights finished the regular season with an impressive 16-9 record and went undefeated in Eastern State Conference Athletic (ESAC) conference play. The Knights were also undefeated at home last season.
As the Lady Knights’ new head coach, King described her coaching philosophy in this way: “I believe in creating a nurturing and empowering environment that fosters the holistic development of our student-athletes, allowing them to thrive both on and off the court. My coaching philosophy is built on such key pillars as academic excellence, character development, diversity and inclusion, as well as life skills and career preparation.”
Central Penn College offers varsity athletics in baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, esports and cheer, with cross country and track to begin in the fall and softball to begin next spring.
