Indiana assistant coach and team & recruitment coordinator Ali Patberg coaches the Hoosiers during Wednesday’s exhibition game against Northwood at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Following a brief stay in the Indiana Fever training camp last April, Ali Patberg had an offer to play professional basketball in Spain.
But Patberg’s goal was to play in the WNBA, and she wasn’t sure if and when that would ever come to fruition. She also had a goal to become a college basketball coach, and she didn’t have to wait for that.
After spending last season as a team and recruitment coordinator at her alma mater, Indiana University, Patberg is a full assistant coach this season.
“Honestly, my experience in the WNBA ended a lot shorter than I wanted to, and then I knew if I ever wanted to play in the WNBA, I was going to have to play overseas and do well,” Patberg said. “Part of me — not part of me, all of me — I didn’t want to have to be away from my family, my friends for eight months out of the year to play, not knowing if I’d even get a chance. Part of me was like, ‘Well, I want to try, to know that I did it,’ but then it was like, ‘Life is too short. I don’t want to spend the majority of my life away from everybody I love.’
“I knew I was going to love coaching because I love the game so much, but I love pouring into people even more,” she added. “It was a hard decision at the moment, but it wasn’t at the same time just because I knew I was going to be around the people that I really loved and the school I love and doing what I knew was going to be a dream job. ”
The 2015 Indiana Miss Basketball and McDonald’s All-American from Columbus North, Patberg spent the final five of her seven-year college basketball career with the Hoosiers. She finished her career ninth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,752 points and third on the all-time assist list with 528, and her career 14.2 points-per-game average ranks eighth. She became one of only three players in program history to be a four-time All-Big Ten player.
That led to Patberg being selected by the Fever in the third round of the 2022 WNBA Draft.
“When I got drafted, I was super, super excited,” Patberg said. “I wouldn’t say it was a shock, but almost a shock because my entire playing career at IU, I was never focused on thinking or really locking in on, ‘I want to be a WNBA player. I want to get drafted.’ The season ended really quick for us, quicker than we had wanted, and (the draft) was right around the corner. I knew I had opportunities to play professionally, and I love the game so much, so when the draft was that night, I went over with Aleksa (Gulbe), my teammate, and just kind of watching, honestly, not expecting really anything.
“So when I got drafted by Indiana, it was just awesome. It was more awesome not for myself, but for our program, for all the times how hard we worked, me and (assistant) coach (Glenn) Box on the floor in terms of developing my game, (head) coach (Teri) Moren and (assistant) coach Rhett (Wierzba), all the coaches that poured so much into my game to help our team win. It was just awesome to me to right there in that moment to thank them for all they had done for me.”
Patberg faced an uphill battle from the start to make the team. She was the seventh of the Fever’s seven draft picks and one of 22 players battling to make the 12-player roster.
“I was more excited for our program and excited for the opportunity to go to training camp and see what that’s like,” Patberg said. “I wasn’t there very long, but it is what it is, and I’m so thankful for the experience and thankful that the GM Lin Dunn gave me an opportunity. It wasn’t moreso for me, but for everyone that are big Indiana fans and grew up knowing me as a high school player. To see that they could do that one day, I’m just thankful I got that opportunity to see that and to be there.”
Moren didn’t take long to offer Patberg a position on her staff. Less than a month after being waived by the Fever, Patberg was an IU coach.
“It was a short conversation,” Moren said. “These are your options. It’s a win-win. You can go over and continue to try to play and maybe come back and stick on a WNBA team if you have a good experience over there, and you’re playing well enough, or you can start your coaching career right here at a place that you love.
“I really think it was kind of an easy decision for her,” she added. “She had the choice. She had a contract in front of her that was going to send her to Spain, where she could play professionally. But this is when I knew we were going to have another spot. We were going to create another spot on our staff, and she was the first person that came to mind because I knew she wanted to coach. I knew this is the profession that she wanted to be in.”
While Patberg spent much of last season on the road recruiting, she has been able to stick around Bloomington and do on-court coaching this season.
“I love being in this position,” Patberg said. “I have the opportunity to help Jules (Juliana LaMendola), Lenee (Beaumont), all of our players, but especially the young ones, but even moreso the guards. It’s a lot thrown at you really, really fast, and I truly believe the biggest adjustment is just the pace that we play at. It’s another level, so being able to work with our guards on a daily basis and push them during the summer so that they’re prepared for the season when it comes. That’s been awesome, and it’s paying off.”
LaMendola and Beaumont are freshmen, and Bargesser is a sophomore who saw a little action last season behind Grace Berger, who recently wrapped up her first WNBA season with the Fever.
“We do a lot of things that they’ve never seen, so for me, I think you can do all you want on the court, but I think a big thing that we’ve done is, we’ve watched a lot of film individually with our guards, with Lanee, with Jules, just so that they see it on the floor, they see it on the film,” Patberg said. “I think the biggest thing for me is, I try to really communicate to the freshmen is that you have to give yourself grace. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to make a lot of them, but just do your best not to make them over and over. Make the mistake, and then we’ll fix it. Then, when they do the right things, just really pouring into them and making sure they’re hearing it because we tend to get on them a lot because they don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s all new to them. So when they do a great job, we’re their biggest cheerleader.”
“Ali is a natural,” Moren added. “We knew it when we coached her, and it has not surprised me one bit how she has really embraced her role here on staff. She’s dove right in, just like she did as a player. She comes in early morning early and gets a workout in and then dives into film. So she’s been a great resource for Lexie Bargesser, Chloe (Moore-McNeil). She works with Lenee Beaumont, all of them, but those are the three or four that she really works with, our point guards. She’s been tremendous, and she has a very bright future in this profession. Two things about Ali — she loves this game, and she loves Indiana — so two really great things we have going for us.”
A 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-American and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Patberg earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from IU’s Kelley School of Business and a master’s in recreational administration in May 2022. She was honored as the school’s female recipient of the G. Frederick Glass Director’s Award, which is presented to two student-athletes who best represent The Spirit of Indiana: “24 Sports, 1 Team.”
The 27-year-old Patberg has gone from being a leader on the court to becoming a leader from the sidelines.
“I knew she could help us,” Moren said. “She is obviously beloved in this program, not just by Hoosier Nation, but also by some of her teammates. If anybody could pull it off in terms of the line that is drawn between being a student-athlete and being a coach, it was Ali Patberg. She’s so professional on so many levels, but also, she has that admiration and the respect of all those kids in that locker room downstairs. That goes a long way, and it helps in recruiting. When recruits speak, you can have Ali speak to what it’s like to be a student-athlete here, academically, but also what it’s like to be in our program and how we do things. She’s going to be a rock star. She’s been very instrumental in what we’ve been able to do and some of the kids that we’ve been able to recruit.”
The ninth-ranked Hoosiers open the season Thursday at home against Eastern Illinois. The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on B1G+.
“It’s really, really awesome,” Patberg said. “In two years, about to be my second year not playing on the court, and just seeing the past year how much growth the game has really had, it’s been really, really cool. All of the investments being made by other people outside the sport, whether it’s social media they’re putting us out there more, it’s just been really cool to see people take steps to help grow the game. I believe that the game has been this great, but now, people are having more access to it. They’re able to see it, and the game is getting better. Everyone is getting better. They’re growing. There’s going to be more coaches, which pushes people to be better coaches. It’s only going continue to grow, and I’m just excited to be a small, small part of it.”
