Aug. 5, 2003

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Deborah Ayres has been named assistant women's basketball coach, head coach Trish Roberts announced. Ayres comes to Stony Brook after six years as the head coach of the girls basketball team at the California School for the Deaf. Last summer, she piloted the U.S. Deaf National Team to a gold medal at the World Games in Athens, Greece.

During her tenure at the California School for the Deaf, her high school team won the Western States Deaf Basketball Championship three times (1998, 2001, 2003) and captured the 2001 Deaf National Championship. Following the 2001 season, Ayres was named the National Coach of the Year.

Prior to the California School for the Deaf, Ayres was the head coach at Cal-State Fullerton for five seasons where she recruited and coached Autumn Hollyfield, who led all of Division I in three-point shooting, and Koko Lahanas who led the nation in scoring. Prior to Fullerton, she coached at Solano Community College in Suison City, California from 1990-92 where she started the women's basketball program and led her team to the state junior college tournament in her second year.

Ayres began her college coaching career at Iowa State as a restricted earnings coach from 1988-89. She then moved on to take a graduate assistantship at the University of Tennessee for one season.

She began her coaching career as the junior varsity head coach at Vallejo High School from 1982-85 before moving on to take over as head coach of the varsity program from 1985-88. At Vallejo, her team won three consecutive league titles.

Ayres earned her bachelor or arts in physical education from California State University at Chico in 1980 and went on to receive her teaching credential in 1981. She later received her master's of science degree in sport management from Tennessee in 1990.