Kate Bruce's task: Lead IUPUI women's basketball into new era while maintaining same success

INDIANAPOLIS — Kate Bruce has her work cut out for her, but she says she’s ready for the challenge.

Bruce was introduced Thursday as the newest IUPUI women’s basketball coach. Bruce comes to IUPUI from Walsh University, where she led the Division II program for six seasons. She’s the program’s all-time winningest coach, with a 134-43 record and four NCAA Tournament berths.

Prior to her time at Walsh, she was an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast, Youngstown State and Ohio University. She followed Bob Boldon to Youngstown State and Ohio. She went to Youngstown State on the heels of the program suffering an 0-30 season. Three years later, the team won 23 games

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When Boldon and Bruce went to Ohio, the Bobcats had suffered five straight losing seasons. Two years later, the team won 27 games.

Bruce stayed positive, regardless of early struggles.

“In our first year, we were bad. You’ve got to get over that,” Boldon said. “She'd be disappointed after a loss, but you come in the next day ready to work.”

Bruce, who grew up in Colorado, is Florida Gulf Coast’s all-time leading scorer. She was an All-American and helped the program to the Division II national championship game in 2007.

Karl Smesko, who is entering his 24th season as FGCU’s coach, says Bruce’s work ethic stood out more than her pure talent.

“She was just smarter and willing to outwork everybody,” he said. “She would run the floor as hard as anybody that we've ever had on every possession. She would see things develop and be able to take advantage of it to get easy baskets. Her understanding of the game combined with her work ethic is what made her an exceptional basketball player. It's something that translates well to becoming a coach.”

After spending one season playing overseas, Bruce (Kate Schrader before  her marriage in 2014) returned to FGCU as a graduate assistant, then an assistant coach. Smesko doesn’t anticipate Bruce having trouble making the jump to the Division I level.

“She is very sound with her basketball philosophy,” he said. “She gets players to play hard and play within a structure. Bringing in the players that fit her style of play may take a year or so, but I think she'll be in position to win championships and take IUPUI to more NCAA Tournaments in the near future.”

One of the most pressing needs from day one will be recruiting. IUPUI won the Horizon League tournament last season for the second time in program history, advancing to its first NCAA tournament behind a veteran-laden group that included four-time Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams. A number of players from last year’s Jaguars team have followed former Jaguars coach Austin Parkinson to Butler, including the team’s second-leading scorer, Rachel McLimore, and  sophomore Anna Mortag. Tyra Ford, who was an IUPUI freshman last season and starred at Anderson High School, entered the transfer portal in March. IndyStar Miss Basketball finalist Jessica Carrothers, who had originally committed to IUPUI, switched her commitment to Butler.

In 12 seasons under Parkinson, IUPUI was 224-141. Rachel Kent (10.5 ppg) and Destiny Perkins (6.5 ppg, 3.3 apg) will both return.

Bruce said she’ll hit the recruiting trail this weekend.

“Indiana has great basketball,” she said. “No matter where I was in the Midwest, we were recruiting Indiana. But now more than ever, we're going to try to keep these kids home.”

Bruce will have a chance to put her fingerprints on the program immediately, and she’ll have some choices to make. Does she scour the transfer portal for immediate-impact players, or does she focus on recruiting high school talent? It’ll be a mix of both.

“We're really excited about the returners coming back, but we do realize we lost a couple of key pieces from last year,” she said. “I think a few of the returners are going to step into some different roles this year, but we are, as a staff, looking to bring in some experienced players that can help with this transition.”

Bruce has experience getting high-level recruits. While at Walsh, she got a commitment from Sha Carter, a Division II All-American who transferred to FGCU after her junior season.

“Making decisions on which kids to take and which kids not to take, both of those decisions are equally important,” Boldon said. “Figuring out which kid to take is important, but figuring out which kids not to take is also important. She's done that well.”

Bruce said the team’s offense will be “high-energy” and “efficient,” and she hopes defensive pressure and turnovers will lead to easy opportunities on the other end. Walsh was second nationally among Division II teams in field goal percentage last season, and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage.

“We play a fun style,” she said. “I'm a high-energy coach. I get so excited for the players. When they leave IUPUI, they will be the best player and person after their four years.”

Follow IndyStar trending sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IUPUI women's basketball coach Kate Bruce hopes for more success