Coaching was not originally in the cards for women’s basketball head coach Maria Marchesano.
A four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs, Marchesano finished her career as the second-best three-point shooter in program history. She also played a season of softball during her senior year when the team needed a shortstop.
After graduating in 2005, she played both softball and basketball overseas in Italy and planned on joining the corporate world when her playing career ended.
With time to spare between seasons, Marchesano applied to a variety of jobs at Manchester University, including positions on the basketball and softball coaching staff. However, after getting her first experience of coaching as an assistant coach, her goals did a 180.
“I saw that there was so much more to coaching than the things that I didn’t like,” Marchesano said. “Being able to teach somebody something and then see them have it carry over to live play was super satisfying and really cool to experience. Once I got that taste of coaching at Manchester, my life kind of shifted from [the] corporate world to [working] on a college campus.”
This shift came at a time of uncertainty in Marchesano’s life.
“Because I didn’t do the Manchester thing until right before my last year [playing], I was thinking the whole time [while I’m in Italy that] I’m getting older and I don’t want to start at the bottom of the corporate ladder at 30,” Marchesano said. “I started getting antsy, like, ‘Am I ruining my career by just being over here having fun?’”
After working at Manchester for two years, Marchesano went on to be the head coach at two Division II schools — Urbana and Walsh — before returning to the Division I (D-I) level as an associate head coach at IUPUI under former Butler head coach Austin Parkinson.
Her first D-I head coaching job came with Mount St. Mary’s in 2017, where she led the team to a 61-54 record over four years. After departing The Mount for Purdue Fort Wayne in 2021, her game reached a new level. Marchesano’s teams reached 20-win seasons and earned WNIT berths three years in a row. Notably, her 2024-25 team achieved an 18-2 conference record, a 17-game win streak and concluded its season with a Horizon League Championship appearance.
Although Marchesano’s end goal was to coach at the highest level of college basketball, every school she was at helped develop her into the coach she is today.
“Even though I might have thought I was ready [to coach D-I], I feel like I’m so much more prepared because of each step I’ve had along the way,” Marchesano said. “I think the biggest lessons have come with how to manage and deal with people because at the end of the day, it’s about relationships. Our game has changed with the portal and NIL, so I’ve had to adapt, but I think my biggest areas of growth is just [growing] as a person, a coach and a leader of people.”
Her growth as a leader and coach reflects through her relationships with her staff and players, especially the ones who chose to follow her from Fort Wayne.
Associate head coach Steven Asher has worked with Marchesano since she arrived at Purdue Fort Wayne, and chose to move to Indianapolis after forming a close relationship with her on and off the court.
“It’s the best working relationship that I’ve had in my career,” Asher said. “I’ve worked for a lot of different head coaches, but she has a good feel for taking things [seriously] when it needs to be and making sure we’re focused on the right things, but also being very realistic with what things are most important.”
Along with bringing in Asher and assistant coach Quincy Cunningham from Purdue Fort Wayne, Marchesano also brought senior forward Lili Krasovec and sophomore guard Destiny Macharia with her.
When Marchesano broke the news to her players at Fort Wayne that she would be leaving to take the job at Butler, Krasovec jumped at the chance to follow her.
“We had this meeting where she told the whole team that she was leaving, and I was literally the first person in her office [afterwards],” Krasovec said. “I was like, ‘Please, can I come with you?’ I couldn’t even finish the sentence, and she was like, ‘Yes, yes, you are coming with me.’ [There] was literally no other option in my head [other than to] just try to follow her here.”
Krasovec credits Marchesano as the coach who gave her confidence to play again. Before transferring to Purdue Fort Wayne, the forward spent two seasons at Boston College, where Krasovec said she considered quitting basketball. Meeting Marchesano during her recruiting process changed her outlook on the game.
The forward gained a plethora of knowledge from Marchesano over the last year, including learning how to believe in her own abilities as a player.
“[In] basketball, [I’ve learned to] just trust myself, cause she trusts me so much and she sees that I will do whatever I can for the team and for her too,” Krasovec said. “As a person, she’s just so real and you can talk to her about anything. She is very big on basketball but she also always tells us, ‘It’s just life, just have fun.’”
Marchesano’s experience as a former player helps strengthen her relationships with her players, old and new. Having gone through experiences similar to theirs, such as adjusting to a new coaching style, allows her to relate more to the team and have more understanding for their situations.
“I went through a coaching change, so I understand that dynamic from players who were recruited by a different coach or who played for different coaches and are now playing for me,” Marchesano said. “I think that gives me some empathy and grace [regarding] a learning curve they need to have. [It] gives you a different perspective now that you’re a coach and leading the program.”
Although both Butler and basketball have changed in a multitude of ways since 2005, the excitement and energy inside Hinkle when basketball season arrives has stayed the same — which is Marchesano’s favorite part of the job despite the chaos that comes with change.
“Anytime you take a new job, it’s extremely crazy,” Marchesano said. “You got to build a staff [and] a roster. You gotta find a new home, pack your stuff, move, get settled, there’s just so much. But the actual job [and] walking into Hinkle every day is awesome. Being back here is awesome. Everyone asks me what’s my favorite memory, and one of my favorite memories [that] I always go back to is game days at Hinkle. The popcorn smell, the buzz in this building, and this is where I get to work every day.”