Georgia Southwestern State hires three new athletic staff members

Published 2:15 pm Monday, August 20, 2018

By Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – The Georgia Southwestern State University athletic department recently hired three new athletic staff members: Katie Roberts, Matt LaMothe and Brian Cook.

Roberts, a native of Lodi, Ohio, will join the Women’s Soccer staff as an assistant coach. She comes to GSW after serving as an assistant coach at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. While at MSJU, Roberts helped lead the Lady Lions to a 17-4 record. The MSJ squad had one All-American player. Prior to being at Mount St. Joseph, Roberts was a volunteer coach at High Point University in High Point, NC, where she was responsible for working with the HPU forwards. Roberts also assisted with all aspects of the program, including planning training sessions, film breakdown, assisting with game-day operations and the Fit for 90 athlete wellness monitoring system.

“Not only does she have NCAA Division I playing experience, she also has Division II and Division III coaching experience,” GSW head women’s soccer coach Enrique Rodriguez said. “We connected on specific points for her to accomplish this year and she’s a very good leader to have both on and off the field.”

Roberts was a four-year letter winner at the University of Buffalo and was named the Mid America Conference (MAC) Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2014. Over four years with the Bulls, she played in 79 games with 60 starts, tallying 23 goals, 53 points and seven assists. Roberts was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team after leading the team in goals and assists in 2011. Roberts led the team to the MAC Championship as a senior with 12 goals and three assists in 22 games.

Matt LaMothe, a native of Rochester, Mich., enters his first season as an assistant coach on the GSW Baseball coaching staff. LaMothe will take on pitching and recruiting duties for the baseball team. LaMothe comes from Madison Junior College, located in Madison, Wis. He coached there for one season. While at MJC, he helped the Wolfpack finish the season at 35-22, sweeping the Regional Tournament and going to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla., where the Wolfpack finished fifth. Two years prior to his stint at Madison Junior College, LaMothe was a graduate assistant and pitching coach at Central Methodist University, where he graduated with his Masters of Education. He was instrumental in leading the Eagles to their best two seasons in program history: going 44-17 and 42-17. During those two seasons, the Eagles gained a bid to the opening round of the NAIA World Series in both seasons.

“When I first talked to him, you could see that he has a passion for pitching,” GSW head baseball coach Josh McDonald said. “He’s been in the coaching profession for a few years and he’s also pitched in the Peach Belt Conference so he knows how competitive this conference is. Our expectations are high as we’re hoping he could help lead the pitching staff.”

During his playing career, LaMothe attended Oakland University from 2008-10. He then transferred to Georgia College and played there from 2010-13. While at GC, LaMothe was awarded Second-Team All-Conference awards and was named the 2013 PBC Tournament MVP. He pitched two of four complete games to help the Bobcats capture the tournament. He played one Independent professional season for the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League. In 2013, Schaumburg won the Frontier League Championship.

Brian Cook, a native of Baton Rouge, LA., has been hired as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications. He spent the 2017-18 season as the primary contact for the nationally-ranked Arkansas State University Women’s Bowling Team. While at ASU, Cook promoted the three-time NCAA Women’s Bowler of the Year. Cook also served as the secondary contact for the women’s tennis team. In addition to those duties, Cook also assisted the Sports Information staff with game-day operations for the other ASU sports teams and helped with daily updates for the Red Wolves’ athletic website.

Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing Keith Michlig said that there were a lot of great candidates who applied for the position, but Cook stood out from all the rest. “We had a strong pool of candidates with experience from coast to coast, but Brian’s resume was one that stood out the most,” Michlig said. “I loved his experience, background and willingness to work. This is a newly-created, full-time position for us and I feel that he could help elevate this department.”

Cook will serve as a secondary media and productions contact for the athletic department and will also help assist with all marketing and promotions activities.