Auburn women[apos]s basketball coach Nell Fortner announced the hiring of Seth Kushkin as an assistant coach in May 2007.
[quote]We are very fortunate to have Seth join our staff,[quote] Fortner said. [quote]Seth brings with him success as a collegiate assistant and a tremendous amount of basketball knowledge. He won a national championship as an assistant coach, alongside Kerry Cremeans, at Purdue. He brings great understanding of the game and an exceptional ability to relate to the players. We lost a lot of experience with Sue Guevara but I am getting that experience back by hiring Seth.[quote]
Last season at Georgia Tech, Kushkin helped the team to a school-record 21-12 mark. The Yellow Jackets also posted their first winning record in ACC play (9-5), while earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
In his tenure in the college ranks, Kushkin has coached several players who have appeared on WNBA rosters, including Camille Cooper, Katie Douglas, Ukari Figgs and Stephanie White of Purdue, Ohio State[apos]s Courtney Coleman and Caity Matter and Georgia Tech[apos]s Kasha Terry.
Kushkin has had two other collegiate assistant assignments, including two seasons at Purdue and three at Ohio State.
Kushkin, 37, was instrumental in Purdue[apos]s breakdown of opponents[apos] offenses during the 1998-99 season, which helped the Boilermakers develop their trademark defense en route to capturing the 1999 National Championship. Kushkin served with current Auburn assistant coach Kerry Cremeans during his two years at Purdue. In addition to the national title, Kushkin helped the Boilermakers capture the 1998 and 1999 Big Ten Tournament Championships.
Following his stint in West Lafayette, Kushkin spent three seasons at Ohio State, where he recruited the nation[apos]s seventh-ranked recruiting class in 2001 while helping the team win the WNIT Championship the same year.
A 1992 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Kushkin began his coaching career as the head freshman coach and assistant varsity boys coach at The Columbus (Ohio) Academy in 1993 before transferring to the McDonogh School in Baltimore to serve as the head girls coach from 1994-97. At McDonogh, Kushkin posted a 65-20 record that included three division titles.
Before his arrival to Georgia Tech, he spent the previous two years as athletic director and co-head girls basketball coach at the Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Kushkin, a native of Columbus, Ohio, is married to the former Lauren Zupnick, and the couple has two daughters, Olivia and Lainey.