Kate Zhibareva named assistant coach

Young Harris College women's basketball coachLindsey Huffman announced the addition of Kate Zhibareva as an assistant coach for the Mountain Lions.

"I'm really excited to have Kate join our program at Young Harris," said Huffman. "Kate has played and coached at one of the top D2 programs in the country. She will bring great energy and experience to our players and staff as we work to move our program forward."

Zhibareva is coming to the Enchanted Valley after spending the past two years as an assistant at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Prior to her coaching career, Zhibareva completed her senior season as a member of the 2018-19 Texas A&M Commerce team that advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament for the second time in program history. In her lone season with the Lions, she played in all 31 games, helping the team to its third ever 20-win season. She averaged 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, helping the team to be one of the top rebounding teams in all of Division II. 

Prior to her time with the Lions, Zhibareva played her junior season at Marshall University. Zhibareva earned her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M-Commerce in 2019 and a master's in international athletic administration and sports management in 2021.

Zhibareva is a native of Liske, Russia.