CHARLESTON, S.C. – Natasha Adair (pronounced AY-dare) was named and introduced as the seventh all-time women’s basketball head coach at the College of Charleston on Tuesday.

Adair, 39, follows in the footsteps of former coaching greats at The College in current Tennessee Director of Women’s Athletics Joan Cronan (1974-76), the program’s all-time winningest coach Nancy Wilson (two tenures from 1976-84 and 2003-12), CofC Hall of Famer Scooter Barnette (1984-94), Kathy McCaskill-Rhein (1994-98) and Melissa Slone (1998-2003).

“I first want to thank President Benson and our Athletics Director Joe Hull for this amazing opportunity to head their women’s basketball program here at the College of Charleston,” Adair said. “The College of Charleston is rich in history. I feel like the support for one another is unwavering and the vision for success is crystal clear. This is a dream come true and I am eager to hit the ground running as I prepare for success at the College of Charleston.”

Adair spent the last eight years as an assistant to women’s basketball head coach Mike Petersen at Wake Forest University. She was promoted to associate head coach in 2007 and helped guide the Demon Deacons to four postseason tournament appearances including the program’s second 20-win campaign (20-14) and a run to the NIT Second Round this past season.

Adair is known as one of the best in the business, not only when it comes to recruiting, but she has shown the ability to develop and mentor some of the top post players in the country.

As the recruiting coordinator for the Deacons, Adair successfully recruited a number of top-rated players in the country and was part of the winningest women’s basketball staff in Wake Forest history coaching the winningest senior class (72 career wins) from 2009-12.

Prior to Wake Forest, she served as an assistant coach for six years at Georgetown University. Similar to her position with the Deacons, Adair was primarily responsible for the Georgetown post players. She was instrumental in the development of Georgetown All-American, WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion Rebekkah Brunson, who was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Sacramento Monarchs.

In her 14 years combined in the ACC and BIG EAST, she has developed and mentored 12 players who went on to play at the professional level.

A native of Washington, D.C., Adair played two seasons at Pensacola Junior College, before transferring to the University of South Florida under head coach Trudi Lacey, who is now the general manager and head coach of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. She still holds the school single-season rebounding record and graduated with a degree in communications in 1994.

A former high school All-American and a top recruit in the country with interest from UConn, Syracuse, Georgetown and USF in 1989-90, Adair (nee Barnes) was inducted into the Albert Einstein High School Hall of Fame in November of 2011. She and her husband, Aaron, are the proud parents of two children, son, Aaron Michael (14), and daughter Allyssa Michelle (6).