Sytia Messer Hometown: Waldo, Ark. High School: Waldo Position: Associate Head Coach Birthdate: 04/14/1977 Experience: 5th Year Alma Mater: Arkansas

Beginning her fifth season on the Yellow Jacket women's basketball staff and first as the team's associate head coach is Waldo, Arkansas native Sytia Messer. Messer, a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks teams that advanced to the Final Four in 1998 and earned the 1999 WNIT Championship, works with the Georgia Tech post players and guards.

Serving as the team's recruiting coordinator the past four seasons, Messer's classes have all ranked in the top-25 in the nation. The 2008-09 class, ranked as high as sixth by All-Star Girls Report, is one of the best in the nation and it includes three star athletes from the state of Georgia.

The 2007-08 class was considered one of the best recruiting classes in school history. The Yellow Jackets inked the highest-ranked player ever to sign with the program, while the freshman class includes three Street & Smith's honorable mention All-Americans. Among the five players, forward Alex Montgomery earned a ranking of 15th in the nation by HoopGurlz.com and All-Star Girls Report. The class also included Iasia Hemingway, 20th best prospect in the nation by HoopGurlz.com, and guards Deja Foster, Shaday Woolcock and Simone Trice.

Prior to joining the Yellow Jacket program, Messer served as an assistant coach at Memphis, working with the perimeter players and team rebounding while serving as the primary recruiter of junior college players. During her two-year tenure at Memphis, the Tigers posted a 34-25 overall record and were 15-13 in Conference USA play. The 2004 Memphis team earned a bid to the WNIT, where they advanced to the second round before falling to quarterfinalist Western Kentucky. Messer was instrumental in the development of Victoria Crawford, the 2004 Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year.

Messer began her coaching career at Arkansas State, where she was an assistant coach under Brian Boyer for two years. At ASU, Messer was responsible for coaching guard play and team rebounding while serving as a recruiter of junior college and high school players.

The former Razorback is best-known for her play at the University of Arkansas, where she finished her career ranked seventh on the Lady Razorbacks' all-time scoring list with 1,379 points, 10th with 603 rebounds, sixth in free throws with 329, and fourth with 112 career three-pointers. A team captain in both her junior and senior seasons, Messer held the record for consecutive games and most games played at Arkansas with 128, until Amy Wright broke her mark in 2002, with 131 games played in her career. Messer led her 1998 Razorback team to a 22-11 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where she was named the MVP of the West Regional and where the team eventually lost to national champion Tennessee in the Final Four. The previous season, she had helped her Arkansas team to its first victory over the Volunteers in the history of the program by holding 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournament MVP Chamique Holdsclaw to a career-low five points in Fayetteville. Messer then led her team to the 1999 WNIT Championship and earned All-Tournament team honors during her senior campaign.

The 1996 PRIME Network Freshman All-America was an active member of multiple Athletes in Action teams while serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.

Messer currently resides in Atlanta and enjoys working with youth basketball camps, motivational speaking, spending time with family and watching sporting events.