Head coach Charlie Averkamp is entering his third season at the helm of the Charger women's basketball program in the 2022-23 season, looking to continue the steady and visible improvement the program has made in his first two seasons.
In a short time at Hillsdale, he's set the program on the right path, winning nine more games in year two than the team did in his first season in charge, and building for the future with strong recruiting classes, including 2021-22 G-MAC Freshman of the Year Peighton Nelson.
Averkamp arrived at Hillsdale in the summer of 2020 fresh off a five-year run of sustained success as head women’s basketball coach at Division III Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, where he guided the Eagle program to unprecedented heights in a short period of time while maintaining his team’s sterling academic reputation.
It’s that mixture of athletic achievement and academic success that drew Averkamp’s interest to Hillsdale College in the first place.
“The thing that interested me most about Hillsdale when I was applying was the unbelievable academic reputation the school and its athletic programs have,” Averkamp said. “I’ve worked at several places with strong academics, and I truly believe in the value of both the student and athlete in the term student-athlete.
“Hillsdale really fits with the vision I have for an ideal program, a place that can compete and win at the highest level while achieving that same level of excellence academically. I’m very excited to be getting an opportunity to coach at a place that shares that vision.”
During his time at Benedictine, Averkamp guided the Eagles to their first conference title since 1997 and the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, while twice surpassing the school record for wins in a season. He also helped to develop 12 All-Conference players, 2 All-Central Region honorees and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Player of the Year Alex Fanning (2020) during his time with Benedictine.
His most recent season as head coach of the Eagles was his best to date, as Benedictine set a new school record with 24 wins in 2019-20 and finished a perfect 20-0 in conference play, capturing the NACC title for the first time since joining the league in 2006. Following the season, Averkamp was named the NACC Coach of the Year for 2019-20. For his entire tenure at Benedictine, Averkamp posted a 98-35 record, and his 74 percent winning percentage is the best among head coaches in the history of the Eagle program.
Prior to taking the head coaching job at Benedictine, Averkamp spent five years as an assistant at Division III Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. During his time with the Falcons, he worked with Stacey Brunner-Jones, the most successful coach in Concordia-Wisconsin history, to help guide the team to five consecutive winning seasons, including an NACC North Division title in 2012-13 and two runner-up finishes in the NACC Conference tournament. At Concordia, Averkamp worked with five All-Conference players, including NACC Player of the Year Katie Leuthe (2014), and helped lead recruiting efforts for the women’s basketball program.
A native of New Berlin, Wisconsin and a graduate of New Berlin West High School, Averkamp played college basketball at Division III Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. During a star-studded four year career from 2004-08, Averkamp earned three All-Conference honors and was named Lake Michigan Conference Freshman of the Year in 2004-05 while helping lead the Eagles to a conference title and the program’s second-ever NCAA Division III tournament berth that same year.
He was the first player in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference history to record a triple-double, and he is still eighth all-time in Edgewood history in career points (1,454), second in career rebounds (908) and fifth in blocked shots (96).
After his playing career ended, Averkamp broke into coaching at his alma mater, spending the 2008-09 season as a graduate assistant with the Edgewood men’s basketball program under head coach Todd Adrian.
Averkamp graduated from Edgewood with a B.S. in Business Management, and later completed an MBA in Business Management at Concordia University Wisconsin.
