Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
University of Richmond Head Coach Aaron Roussell announced the addition of Ariel Stephenson as Assistant Coach to the Spider Women’s Basketball coaching staff ahead of the 2023-24 season.
“I’m very excited to have Ariel join our staff and be a mentor to our young women,” Roussell said. “I knew years ago coaching against her that she was destined to be an outstanding coach. She was an incredible teammate, a fierce competitor and carried herself with a magnetic charisma throughout the A-10 and we are eager for her to show those attributes as a Spider.”
Stephenson made an immediate impact in her first two seasons on staff, helping guide the Spiders to back-to-back Atlantic 10 regular season titles and consecutive postseason appearances, including the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in 2025. Following her second season at Richmond, Stephenson was named to the 2025 WBCA Thirty Under 30 list, a national honor recognizing up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches who demonstrate exemplary involvement in community service, mentorship, and impact on student-athletes.
Stephenson joined the Spiders following a two-year stint with Davidson, where she spent the 2021-22 season as the Wildcats’ Director of Player Development and was promoted to Director of Basketball Operations ahead of the 2022-23 season. In her first year at Davidson, she helped the team go 18-15 and make a trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitational. In 2022-23, the Wildcats went 14-16 and picked up a first-round win in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The Prince George, Va. native arrived at Davidson after serving one year as a graduate assistant and video coordinator with George Washington. Prior to her time at GW, Stephenson had a standout four-year career at Wake Forest.
A two-year captain of the Demon Deacons, she became Wake Forest’s 25th member of the 1,000-point club in 2018 while earning ACC All-Academic and All-Rookie honors during her tenure. With an extra year of eligibility, Stephenson joined George Washington for the 2019-20 season as a graduate transfer, before transitioning into a graduate assistant role.
Stephenson earned a bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from Wake Forest in 2019 and completed her master's degree in sport management from GW in May 2021.
