Lexie Gerson (Virginia ’14) has been named Head Women’s Basketball Coach. Gerson, who served as the First Assistant Coach during the 17-18 season, becomes the 4th Head Coach in Harcum Women’s Basketball history. She succeeds Brittany Clark, who led the Bears from 2015-2018 and amassed a 68-33 (0.673) record. Clark, the winningest coach in program history will join the coaching staff at Virginia Tech this fall. “I couldn’t be more thankful and excited about this opportunity and the future of this program,” said Gerson. “Coach Britt worked so hard over the past few years laying the foundation of this program brick-by-brick. She has built something special at Harcum that attracts not only high quality basketball players, but more importantly high quality humans. It was a privilege to learn so much from Coach Britt and I feel very lucky to now be able to call her one of my best friends as well. I know she will do amazing things in her next journey.” Harcum Women’s Basketball is in good hands with Lexie Gerson. While spending the past year on staff acclimating to the campus culture and forging strong relationships with the players and athletic department personnel, she played a crucial role in the successful 2017-2018 season which culminated in a trip to Nationals in Arkansas last March. On the court, Gerson took the lead as the Player Development Coach and Defensive Coordinator. Off the court, she led all scouting and video breakdown efforts. She advocated for players moving onto the next level and took pride in placing players into four-year programs; players like Jayana Ervin who after earning the Player of the Year award for the NJCAA Region XIX, transferred to the University of Richmond, becoming the first Harcum player to ever matriculate to that program. Prior to her hire at Harcum in August of 2017, Gerson served as the First Assistant Coach at Arcadia University (2015-2016) where she oversaw guard play, player and skill development, and the team’s defense strategy. A native of Fort Washington, PA, Gerson attended high school at the Peddie School in New Jersey, where she started on the nationally ranked girls’ basketball team all four years. At Peddie, she was a captain and a 1,000 point scorer. She garnered national attention and was ranked as the 24th best girls’ player in the nation and ranked sixth in her position during her senior year. She was invited with a select group of girls to attend the United States Olympic Development Camp in Colorado Springs. She was also named to the 2008 and 2012 USA Maccabi Open Women’s Basketball Team, where in 2008, she was the only high school player chosen. While earning two degrees at The University of Virginia, Gerson was a starter during all four years of her career and earned the badge of captain in her final season. Gerson proved her worth as a defensive-minded guard, earning the ACC All Defensive Team accolade during her junior and senior campaigns. While leading the ACC in steals during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 seasons, she was also ranked in the top 10 nationally for steals. She is ranked fifth all time at UVA with 257 steals. While at UVA, she received a B.A. in Women Gender and Sexuality Studies and a M.A. in Higher Education with a concentration in Collegiate Athletic Administration. Gerson spent 2014-2016 playing professionally overseas in the top division in Israel. During her rookie season in 2014-2015, she played for Elitzur Ramla and was part of the runner up championship team. In 2015-2016 Lexie was the starting shooting guard for ASA Jerusalem, where she led her team in steals and assists. Lexie was subsequently inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Upon returning from her professional playing career in 2016, Gerson spent two seasons as the Head Coach for the 15U Philadelphia Belles AAU team. Recently, the Belles retained Gerson to direct their year-round group training sessions. Currently, she owns and operates her own training business, Lexie Gerson Basketball, LLC., where she develops the best male and female players in the Mid-Atlantic region. “I plan to build this program on a foundation of discipline, selflessness, hard work, respect, and love,” said Gerson. “We will empower our student-athletes to become strong leaders of the future. My vision is for Harcum to compete at a national level athletically while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of success in the classroom. I plan to build a brand that is known for repeatedly producing extremely high quality student-athletes who are prepared for success beyond their Harcum experience. I couldn’t be more excited and lucky to be a part of the Harcum basketball family and the future of this program! Let’s go, Bears!”