UWGB women's basketball assistant position is 'perfect' for former Cleveland State coach Peterson Abiad

GREEN BAY – Kate Peterson Abiad has always loved coaching basketball, but she wasn’t thinking about a return to the game until a recent call from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s coach Kayla Karius.

The two hit it off so well that Peterson Abiad decided to step down from her role as the WIAA's assistant director and join Karius' staff at UWGB after Karius was hired by the school in April to replace Kevin Borseth.

Peterson Abiad is no stranger to Karius or the Phoenix. She was the head coach at Cleveland State for 15 seasons before stepping down in 2018 and remains the program’s all-time winningest coach with 206 victories.

She led the Vikings to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2010, beating UWGB in the semifinal round of the Horizon League tournament both years.

Karius, who was a player on those Phoenix squads, is the biggest reason Peterson Abiad decided to leave the WIAA and return to the court.

She didn’t know Karius other than coaching against her while at CSU, but in the age of social media she has followed her career and liked how she has progressed during each step up the coaching ladder.

Peterson Abiad has received plenty of calls from coaches since her time at CSU. It’s not uncommon for them to ask for references about former assistants or players who are now in coaching.

She figured that’s why Karius was calling recently, only to learn it was much bigger than that.

From the moment they spoke and discussed what her role would be at UWGB, it was something that intrigued Peterson Abiad so much she couldn’t turn down the opportunity when offered.

“She is amazing, she has a great vision for Green Bay,” Peterson Abiad said of Karius. “To be honest, Green Bay, I always say it’s like the Gonzaga of the Midwest. Every kid who is really good, this is a top-tier school. They aspire to be at this level.

“It kind of was just everything fitting into place. Almost the perfect storm, so to speak. The opportunity. The timing. Just knowing that Kayla is putting together pieces of the program from the staff, the team, to make this an amazing opportunity for kids.”

Peterson Abiad relishes opportunity to have positive impact

Peterson Abiad had a desire to work with players again after serving in a more behind-the-scenes role with the WIAA. Her responsibilities with the organization included the administration and coordination of duties for basketball, boys and girls tennis, and boys and girls lacrosse.

She enjoyed the impact she had on student-athletes while with the WIAA, but there is nothing quite like working with players every day to help them achieve their goals.

It’s what she missed most about coaching.

Peterson Abiad, 55, will be the most experienced coach on UWGB’s bench.

Karius recently announced her staff, which along with Peterson Abiad includes longtime Phoenix assistant Sarah Bronk, former Eastern Illinois assistant head coach and UWGB and Green Bay Notre Dame star Allie Alexander, and assistant coach and director of operations Liz Oswald.

Peterson Abiad was a standout player at UW-Stevens Point from 1987 to 1991 and broke the NCAA Division III record for 3-pointers per game as a senior when she averaged 3.85 a contest.

The River Falls native started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Indiana in 1991 before being named an assistant at Eastern Illinois in 1993.

Peterson Abiad also was an assistant at Wisconsin from 1997 to 2003 before landing the head coaching job at CSU.

She stepped down after the 2017-18 season in order to spend more time with a young family that includes two daughters, who are now 14 and 8.

Peterson Abiad has a unique opportunity at UWGB. She doesn’t have to be a head coach to still be a mentor.

“I was an assistant for 12 years, but I haven’t been an assistant since I have been a head coach,” she said. “After being a head coach, you know what you need. You know what a head coach needs because you’ve been in their shoes. To have somebody that is on the trajectory that Kayla is on, to help her get where she wants to go as far as her abilities as a coach, I’m talking about in-game strategies and game management and player management and that kind of thing.

"I just remember what it was like coaching in my first few years as a head coach and how there were so many things that were unknown that I had to grow a lot in. You have got to be on top of everything. I think I can help her with that. I like that role of maybe making a difference not only with X’s and O’s and players, but also with the coaches.”

Peterson Abiad has important roles as coach and parent

Peterson Abiad will juggle a busy family life with basketball, much like Karius.

Her husband, Philippe, is the men’s volleyball coach at UW-Stevens Point. Their oldest daughter, Mea, is a freshman in high school. Their youngest daughter, Remi, is in second grade.

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Peterson Abiad’s family will remain in Stevens Point while she goes back and forth between their home and Green Bay. She plans to be very intentional about being available for her kids, both of whom she talked to about taking the UWGB job before accepting it.

Mea was 8 when Peterson Abiad stepped down at CSU, and she loved everything about her mother’s life. Mea enjoyed traveling and being around a team, and it’s the same way now with the volleyball squad at UWSP.

Mea told her mother she just wanted her to do what she loved.

Remi was too young when Peterson Abiad was at CSU to remember anything about the life of a basketball coach. She knows it wasn’t an easy choice for her mother to do what she loves while having to be away from the family a bit more.

Peterson Abiad is confident she can balance being a parent and a coach. She and Karius have had plenty of conversations about finding a happy medium between their families and their jobs.

Peterson Abiad knew if she ever returned to coaching, it would be somewhere where it was understood a part of her life and her heart is with her family.

Had it not been a school like UWGB, she would still be with the WIAA.

“It was really the perfect opportunity,” Peterson Abiad said. “It was a place I didn’t have to pack up my whole crew and move them. My husband being the head coach for men’s volleyball at UWSP, taking him away from that after he just got involved with it, that would not have been what we would have wanted to do.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kate Peterson Abiad leaves WIAA to return to coaching with UWGB women