WEST LONG BRANCH – The fans were settling into OceanFirst Bank Center for Blue White Night as new Monmouth women’s basketball head coach Cait Wetmore stood outside her team’s locker room, speaking passionately about her love for the team, her dreams for the program and an incredible hoops journey that’s landed her back in her home state.

There have been plenty of defining moments along the way, but none more important than the events that lit a fire for the profession that still burns red-hot more than a decade later, having laid the foundation for her first head coaching gig.

While Wetmore spent the past 10 years in North Carolina, including the last four at Charlotte helping the 49ers win the Conference USA title in 2022 and reach the NCAA Tournament, it was her first job as a young assistant coach in 2012, returning to her alma mater at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, that galvanized her resolve to make a career out of the game she loved.

In late October 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed into the area and forced Wetmore out of her apartment for several months. Needing a place to live near campus and not wanting to impose on anyone, including family and friends, Wetmore spent several months homeless, living in her car and making $18,000 a year, while continuing to put in the long hours required of the entry-level position, responsible for much of the grunt work behind the scenes.

“I feel like it’s been such a whirlwind since I got this job. I haven’t had a lot of time to reflect. But the few moments that I have it is very full circle,” Wetmore said. “I have been in the south for 10 years, but the last time I was up here I was sleeping in my car, and making $18,000 in New York, and that was a very hard time. It truly was a test of my love for this profession. You know, like is this worth it, while I’m showering in the locker room and have nowhere to go? So it is a very full circle moment.”

Heather Jacobs, now the head coach at UMass Boston, hired Wetmore at Adelphi, and saw first-hand the drive, determination and compassion that’s fueled her rise in the profession.

“As she’s going through that, at that level, at that time, you have to do so many other things just to survive and she was committed to doing that,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think you see that from a lot of people anymore.

“I’m extremely proud of her and happy for her.”

Setting a high standard

Cara Consuegra didn’t actually meet face-to-face with Wetmore when hiring her to join her coaching staff at Charlotte. Which made her interviews with the then-assistant coach at UNC Greensboro that much more impressive.

“It was during Covid so we did the whole hiring over the phone,” said Consuegra, in her first season as the head coach at Marquette. “I highlight that because it shows just how much she was able to stand out in a phone call. The first conversation we had I don’t think we talked about basketball at all. We talked about our values, why we coach what are dreams are for our student-athletes. Her and I still are very much aligned on these things.”

By the time Wetmore arrived at the Jersey Shore, half the roster had jumped into the transfer portal in the wake of coach Ginny Boggess announcing her departure for Toledo.

“It was definitely surprising to get here in May and there only be eight players on the roster,” she said. “That was stressful to say the least. But that is the beauty of the portal. There were still a lot of good players available. It was late so it was hard - I didn’t get a chance to convince anyone to stay, with all the players already going somewhere else before I landed here – and I really had seven spots to fill in a really quick amount of time because we started workouts in June. So I had three weeks before we were supposed to start workouts and I didn’t have a team yet.”

She wanted talent. But character was the most important criteria, and one that would not be compromised in the quest to win games.

“I need players who can help us on the court but I didn’t want to possibly mess up the culture and often time you do find that in the portal,” said Wetmore, who earned a master's degree in clinical social work during two seasons as a graduate assistant at Columbia. “I didn’t want to take someone who was going to be very skilled but would mess up the locker room. That felt very important to me.”

“She brought in good human beings,” said graduate center Belle Kranbuhl, one of the team’s leaders. “And with so much experience between who was already here and the players coming in, it just made for an easy transition. Coach Cait really laid down what she wanted and I think that together we talked about that and we understood the mission We are just working towards that goal together and understand what the standard is.”

The standard is pretty high. Monmouth went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 40 years two seasons ago, making an inspiring run through the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament in the Hawks’ first year in the league. They finished second during the 2023-24 regular season.

Monmouth opens the season with a pair of games against Ivy League foes, beginning at Yale on Nov. 4, before the home opener on Nov. 9 against Brown.

Coming full circle

The contrast could not be more stark, from the memories of sleeping in her car to the opportunity at hand.

“It definitely really feels special to me to be here in this capacity. To me it feels like such a different place than the last time I was up here,” Wetmore said. “It makes me feel really grateful and of course excited about what else is to come and what this opportunity will feel like once we’re in it, in the season. I’m just so excited to have games with these girls, to be on this journey and see where it leads us.”

What Wetmore has more than anything is belief, in her decisions, her systems and her players.

“I know what it’s like to be a first-year head coach,” Consuegra said. “It’s very overwhelming, very time consuming, so I basically said to her ‘whenever you need me, call me, or text me.’ But it hasn’t been that much and that is a credit to her being ready for this. Knowing the vision she has for the program, that she has for herself as a head coach.

“She is very sure of herself. She knows what she wants and how she wants to build the program. It’s a huge challenge. She walked into a hard situation but she is the right person, she will build it the right way, she will build it with great character.”

As for the Xs and Os, it’s a work in progress, as the chemistry builds and players buy into what Wetmore’s selling, which includes a fast-paced offense and pressure defense.

“I’m really excited. I love this team. I really do,” Wetmore said. “I feel really excited to be on this journey with them. I feel really centered in that I am in this with them. We’re in the trenches together, I’m excited to live that and feel that in my first official game, but I just feel really grateful that I am doing this for the first time with the group that I have.”

Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for over 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Cait Wetmore, new Monmouth women's basketball coach, takes full circle