Western Carolina University Women's Basketball

An integral member of a Blazer staff that transitioned from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference, Seberger helped student-athletes record 10 American conference accolades throughout the season, including two Freshman of the Week awards, a Player of the Week selection, and seven AAC Honor Roll honors. Additionally, Seberger helped coach players Mia Moore and Denim DeShields to All-AAC third-team honors with Moore also being named to the All-Newcomer team. Seberger and the Blazers recorded an 18-win season in 2023-24, the program's most in a single season since recording 20 in the 2019-20 season, culminating in their first WNIT tournament appearance since the 2018-19 season.   A member of Conference USA her first two seasons in Birmingham, Seberger oversaw an outstanding season for All-Conference and All-Defensive team honoree Zakyia Weathersby, who led the conference in six statistical categories including rebounding and shooting percentage in 2021-22. The following year, Margaret Whitely was an All-Conference second-team selection and a three-time C-USA Freshman of the Week honoree Denim DeShields was named to the All-Freshman team under Seberger's tutelage.   Prior to joining the Blazers, Seberger coached at North Alabama for two years, posting a 21-9 record in the 2019-20 season. She joined North Alabama after serving as the director of basketball operations for three seasons at Kent State. Her primary responsibilities with the Golden Flashes included coordinating the team's travel arrangements and film exchange, supervising the team's managerial staff, running summer camps, and performing other administrative tasks.  Seberger began her coaching career in Hickory, N.C., where she was an assistant coach at Lenoir-Rhyne.   The third former women's basketball player to join the Catamount coaching staff, Seberger appeared in 79 games over her four-year career with the Illinois State Redbirds which saw her serve as the team's captain her senior season. The Geneva, Ill., native graduated in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in communication studies before earning her Master's in leadership from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2016.

Sydney Lowery played at both Boston College and as a graduate transfer at Fairfield. She joins the Catamount staff having spent the past two seasons in Tallahassee, Fla., as a graduate assistant at Florida State. During her two years at FSU, the Seminoles posted a combined 46-21 record. Originally from Shelton, Conn., Lowery played 77 career games at Boston College with 17 starts from 2017-20 and was a two-time ACC Honor Roll recipient. She concluded her career as a graduate transfer at Fairfield University in 2022 helping the Stags make the NCAA tournament following a MAAC tournament championship. The 5-10 guard started in all 30 of her appearances that season. Lowery was also a McDonald’s All-America nominee at St. Luke’s High in New Canaan, Conn., where she scored 2,065 points as a prep. She later started her coaching career at St. Luke’s as an assistant on the girls’ basketball staff. She also has experience working women’s basketball elite camps while an undergraduate at Boston College. Lowery graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and political science. She was awarded a Master’s of Science in Management from Fairfield in 2022. She also earned her Master’s of Science in Sport Management from Florida State in 2024.  “We are very fortunate to have Sydney Lowery join our Western Carolina Basketball family as an assistant coach,” said Tsipis. “Sydney excelled at both Boston College and Fairfield, leading the Stags to the NCAA Tournament in her final season.  She has been a Graduate Assistant the last two season at Florida State helping the program to back to back NCAA Tournament appearances.  Sydney worked closely with 2 of my former assistants and flourished at players development.  Our team will be impacted by her abilities to build and grow relationships.”  

Kaifes (pronounced KAY-fiss) is a former women's basketball student-athlete at Marquette University, where she crossed paths with Tsipis during his tenure on staff with the Golden Eagles. She joins associate head coach Alison Seberger, assistant coaches Sydney Lowery and Darius Barksdale, and graduate assistant Andrea Shire. "We are excited to have Claire Kaifes join our Catamount coaching staff. I had the pleasure of coaching Claire for two seasons while at Marquette, where she was a coach on and off the floor for the program," said Tsipis, who enters his second season in Cullowhee. "As a player, Claire was an outstanding shooter, consistently took charges, and always found ways to impact winning. Her experience as both a high school and an AAU coach will transfer over to her role here at WCU. Our players will learn from her high basketball IQ and the relationships she will build with our team and staff." A recent Marquette graduate, Kaifes joins the Catamount staff having most recently served as the head coach of the Kansas Elite AAU team in Kansas City. As such, she organized practice and team schedules while also acting as the liaison between college coaches and the players. Kaifes was also an assistant coach for Staley High in Kansas City, Mo., helping guide the team to a 29-2 record and a Class 6A state title game appearance.   Originally from Shawnee, Kansas, located in the suburbs of Kansas City, Kaifes spent five seasons on the women's basketball hardwood at Marquette, playing in 93 games while in Milwaukee. She was a four-time Big East All-Academic team selection. While an undergraduate, Kaifes assisted the MU marketing department with social media content creation and as a student worker from 2021-2024. Kaifes overlapped with Tsipis during her final two seasons at Marquette, and with fellow assistant coach Darius Barksdale during her final season in Milwaukee.   Kaifes received her Bachelor of Science in business administration in August 2022, and earned her Master of Business Administration in May 2024. The daughter of Eric and Melynda Kaifes, Claire comes from an athletic family. Her father, Eric, played college football at SMU, while her brother, Connor, played football at Pittsburgh State. Her sister, Catie, played college basketball for Eastern Kentucky, and her brother Cooper began his collegiate career at Loyola-Chicago before transferring to Samford. 

Darius Barksdale joins the 2024-24 Catamount Women's Basketball staff by way of the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he and head coach Jonathan Tsipis served on the support staff for  during the 2023-24 campaign. Marquette made program history with the two on staff, opening the season 12-0, and was able to boast about being one of only 10 teams in the nation to go undefeated in the non-conference slate. During his time as the Director of Video and Player Development in Milwaukee, Barksdale handled all of the program's video content needs, including opponent scouting and player development.   Prior to joining the Golden Eagles, Barksdale spent two seasons in Austin with the Texas Longhorns during the 2021-23 seasons. He was involved in nearly every aspect of the program, including on-campus recruiting, scouting, player development, and administrating the team's summer camps. During the 2022-23 season, the Longhorns took the Big 12 tournament title and ran to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. A three-year men's basketball letter winner (2017-20) at Urbana University, Barksdale earned his bachelor's in sports management in 2020. Originally from Lexington, Ky., he appeared in 58 career games for the Blue Knights after playing one season (2016-17) at Oakland City University. Barksdale completed his master's in communication, with an emphasis in sports communication, in 2023 and graduated cum laude. "We are extremely excited to welcome Darius Barksdale to the Catamount women's basketball family. I had the privilege of working with Darius in 2023-24 at Marquette where I saw firsthand his work ethic, knowledge of the game, and his ability to relate to the players," said Tsipis of his latest hire. "As an assistant coach, Darius fits well with our staff and our collective efforts to invest in our Catamount student-athletes. He understands the commitment to build a championship-level program."