MIDDLETOWN, PA - Penn State Harrisburg saw their other head coaching vacancy in basketball filled yesterday when they officially named former Elizabethtown College first assistant basketball coach Ross Patrick as the new women´s basketball coach for the 2008-09 season. Patrick joins Mike Gaffey, who was named the head coach for the men´s basketball team in May, to the Penn State Harrisburg coaching community.

Ross Patrick hails from Mount Joy, and comes to Penn State Harrisburg after spending the last eight years as the first assistant basketball coach at Elizabethtown College. During his tenure at Elizabethtown he helped coach under Division III head coaching great, Yvonne Kauffman. Kauffman is third all-time on the active wins list in Division III women´s basketball with 640.

Ross graduated in 1999 with a degree in business administration from Lebanon Valley College and a master´s in sport management from Millersville University. He was a member of the 1995-96 Lebanon Valley College men´s basketball team which was a Mid-Atlantic Tournament Selection team.

Along with his last eight years at Elizabethtown College, Patrick was the interim girl´s head coach at Palmyra High School during the summer of 1999 offseason, where he was in charge of all summer leagues.

Ross Patrick believes that first and foremost that he´s a teacher and motivator of the women and seeks improvement every single day on the court. He also believes in having excellent leadership throughout the entire team as well as being an energized recruiter himself.