July 26, 2011 - Stephanie Schell is the new assistant women’s basketball coach for the Hillsdale College women’s basketball program. Schell joined the Chargers in July 2011, taking over for Tim Wells, who left the position after five seasons to take a different assignment within the college.
Schell comes to Hillsdale after playing for four seasons at Division I University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was the Panthers’ team captain for all four years of her career, and played in a total of 82 games. She also earned Horizon League Academic Honor Roll recognition three of the six times she was eligible, and was part of a Panthers’ team that earned a community outreach award for its work around Milwaukee.
Schell was named her team’s Most Inspirational Player in 2010-11 and in 2009-10, won the team’s Iron Woman award for her dedication to offseason workouts and in the weight room.

Chargers head coach Claudette Charney said she looks forward to having Schell on the staff, and believes she has a promising future as a basketball coach, citing her energy and maturity.

“I am very excited about Stephanie being a part of our Charger family,” Charney said. “Stephanie will be a wonderful addition to our program and has the potential to be an exceptional coach.”

Schell said she understands the tight-knit nature of Hillsdale College athletics, and is looking forward to being a part of it.

“I consider it a privilege to become part of the Hillsdale College family,” Schell said. “From what I’ve seen of it, it is a family. It is unique and special to be a part of a program where there are no divides between the people.

“The first thing I appreciate about Coach Charney is that it’s not about just basketball with her,” Schell added. “It’s clear that she cares about the people in her program and wants them to succeed in life. She has that quality as a leader, and it’s something I intend to emulate.”

Schell is the older sister of Charger men’s basketball player Derek Schell, who will be a sophomore on the team in 2011-12. Both hail from New Berlin, Wisconsin, and Stephanie attended Eisenhower High School in the Milwaukee suburb. While there, she earned an overall grade point average of 4.1 and was named the school’s Co-Female Athlete of the Year in 2006-07. She earned varsity letters in basketball, volleyball and track, and as a senior, was inducted into her high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

While in high school, she started 91 consecutive games, and was an honorable mention All-American, according to Street & Smith’s magazine. She set Eisenhower High School girls basketball records for assists and 3-pointers made in a season and a career. She earned First-Team All-Conference honors in all four of her prep seasons. She played AAU basketball for the Wisconsin Swish.

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2011 with majors in broadcast journalism and communications.