Heather Oesterle

American softball coach

Heather Oesterle
Biographical details
Born	(1979-10-12) October 12, 1979 (age 44) Mason, Michigan
Playing career
1998–2002	Michigan

Position(s)	Forward/Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–2003	Stanford (asst.)
2003–2008	Miami (OH) (asst.)
2008–2010	Northern Illinois (asst.)
2010–2012	Central Michigan (asst.)
2012–2019	Central Michigan (AHC)
2019–2023	Central Michigan
2023–present	Notre Dame (SPD)

Head coaching record
Overall	50–63 (.442)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
MAC regular season (2020) MAC West Division (2020)

Heather Oesterle is the strategic program director the Notre Dame women's basketball team.^[1] Previously, she was the head coach of the Central Michigan women's basketball team.^[2] Oesterle was named CMU's head women's basketball coach in July, 2019, succeeding her long-time mentor Sue Guevara. Oesterle served for nine seasons on Guevara's staff at CMU, helping lead the program to unprecedented heights including three Mid-American Conference championships, two MAC Tournament titles, and five MAC West Division crowns. She earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Michigan in 2002 and her master's degree in sports studies from Miami in 2008.

Playing career

She played four years under head coach Sue Guevara at Michigan from 1998 to 2002.^[3]

Michigan statistics

Source^[4]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1998–99	Michigan	21	80	33.3%	14.3%	79.2%	2.2	0.7	0.9	0.1	3.8
1999-00	Michigan	27	111	42.1%	41.4%	86.4%	2.3	1.3	0.5	0.3	4.1
2000–01	Michigan	27	188	38.1%	34.0%	70.4%	4.8	2.6	1.3	0.4	7.0
2001–02	Michigan	27	103	31.9%	22.6%	76.0%	4.0	2.2	1.2	0.2	3.8
Career		102	482	36.5%	28.7%	76.0%	3.4	1.8	1.0	0.3	4.7

Coaching career

Early in her coaching career she was an assistant at Stanford before coming to the MAC as assistant at Miami (OH) and Northern Illinois. She joined Guevara's staff at Central Michigan in 2012 where she remained until Guevara's retirement.^[3]

Central Michigan

On July 12, 2019, Oesterle was announced as the new head coach of the Central Michigan women's basketball program.^[3] In her first season the Chippewas won the regular season championship with a 15–1 MAC record.^[5] They were upset in the MAC tournament prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their hopes in the postseason were dashed by the cancellation of the NCAA tournament^[6]^[7]^[8] In 2021 her team won the MAC tournament with a 77–72 win over Bowling Green.^[9]^[10] They lost to Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament.^[11] After seasons with single digit wins in her final two years she was fired April 6, 2023.^[12]

Notre Dame

On September 7, 2023, Oesterle was announced as Notre Dame's strategic program director.^[13]

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Central Michigan Chippewas (Mid-American Conference) (2019–2023)
2019–20^[14]	Central Michigan	22–5	15–1	1st (West)	Postseason cancelled due to COVID-19
2020–21^[15]	Central Michigan	18–9	13–6	2nd	NCAA first round
2021–22^[16]	Central Michigan	4–25	2–18	12th
2022–23^[17]	Central Michigan	6–23	4–14	T–11th
Central Michigan:		50–62 (.446)	34–39 (.466)
Total:		50–62 (.446)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

^ "Heather Oesterle takes on new role in Notre Dame women's basketball coaching staff". BVM Sports. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
^ "Heather Oesterle". CMUChippewas.com. Central Michigan University. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Heather Oesterle Named Women's Basketball Head Coach". CMUChippewas.com. Central Michigan University. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
^ "Crown 'Em!". CMUChippewas.com. Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^ "Toledo 78, Central Michigan 71". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
^ Wright, Branson (March 12, 2020). "Mid-American Conference cancels basketball tournament in Cleveland because of coronavirus concerns". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
^ "Central Michigan 77, Bowling Green 72". ESPN. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
^ "'Unbelievable feeling': CMU women win MAC, earn third straight NCAA appearance". Detroit News. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ "Central Michigan 72, Iowa 87". ESPN. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
^ "Central Michigan fires women's basketball coach Heather Oesterle after tough 2 years". Detroit News. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
^ "Heather Oesterle Rounds Out 23-24 Staff". FightingIrish.com. The University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
^ "2019-20 Women's Basketball Schedule". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
^ "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
^ "2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Schedule". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-05.