The Eastern Connecticut State University women’s basketball program made a significant addition to its coaching staff in 2019 in former Windham High School girls' basketball coach and Eastern alumnus Ken Valliere. A native of North Windham, Valliere joined the staff of head coach Denise Bierly after 23 years in charge of the Whippets.
While Valliere needed only to cross High Street in Willimantic to change his basketball coaching address, the decision to leave Windham High was much more difficult. Ultimately, he felt it was the right time for him to accept a new challenge. “I thought at this time and this point in my career, it would be a great opportunity to take the next step to the college level,” Valliere explained.
Valliere left a strong legacy at Windham High School. In 23 years of coaching girls’ basketball, he won two state championships, seven Eastern Connecticut Conference (ECC) championships, and was named the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Girls Basketball Coach-of-the-Year in the 2017-2018 season. He also coached the school’s baseball team, adding three ECC championships to his resume. While most of his years were with basketball and baseball, Valliere also spent time coaching softball, soccer, and American Legion baseball.
Both Windham High School and Eastern are very special to Valliere. He is an alumnus of both schools, playing four years of basketball and baseball at Windham High. At Eastern, he was a four-year member of the baseball program under Hall of Fame coach Bill Holowaty, where he was a right-handed pitcher and lefty-swinging first baseman and senior captain who batted .323 with a .984 fielding percentage as a junior on the 1990 national championship team.
“I have great memories of Eastern when I was here,” said Valliere. “It’s a nice feeling to give back to the place that gives so much to you.”
The strong connection to both schools also made leaving Windham High difficult. He says it was an emotional time when he told the team, which included his daughter Rylee, that he was leaving. He had full support from his family and from Windham, which helped his transition.
Valliere and Bierly -- the latter now in her 31st season at Eastern -- have had a strong relationship, with many of Valliere's former players from the Windham program moving on to play at Eastern, most recently among them Danyelle Rodriguez '16, Taylor McBride '15, and 1,000-point scorer Nicky Morey' 09.
Bierly acknowledges how much Valliere has helped not only her, but the members of the team as well. “I think the main point of all of this is that he’s a big asset to our student-athletes. They have someone who has a wealth of experience, is highly motivated, and is a tremendously hard worker."
