Hailey Diestelkamp begins her first season as an assistant coach in 2026-27.
Diestelkamp is no stranger to the Ohio Valley Conference having spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Indiana.
"I am thrilled to welcome Coach D into our program," said head coach Phil Sayers. "She was an excellent player who was a winner! She is a connector and relationship builder. Having local knowledge of Missouri will only help us in recruiting. Our players will love having her as one of their coaches. She fits our philosophy of having GREAT PEOPLE, who are GREAT TEAMMATES who love to WIN! I am thankful to have her join our team at Lindenwood"
During her time in Evansville, Diestelkamp helped lead the Screaming Eagles to consecutive 20-win seasons, multiple appearances in the OVC tournament, reaching at least the semifinal round in each, and consecutive appearances in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). In 2024-25, USI reached the WNIT Super Sixteen for the first time. She has helped coach four All-OVC selections since joining the coaching staff.
Before coming to USI, Diestelkamp served as the Director of Basketball Operations for Missouri State University Women's Basketball for two seasons under head coach Beth Cunningham.
Prior to Missouri State, Diestelkamp served as a graduate assistant for the Saint Louis University Billikens. While at SLU, Diestelkamp assisted with game-day preparation, player development, setting up community service activities, and coordinating postgame and travel meals.
Before entering the coaching realm, Diestelkamp had a decorated playing career at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. In her career at Drury, the Lady Panthers posted a 128-8 record, and her jersey was retired after she ended her career as the team’s all-time leading scorer (2,321) and rebounder (1,101).
Diestelkamp was a two-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year, a two-time First Team All-American, a two-time GLVC Player of the Year, and was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2016-17.
The Owensville, Mo., native averaged 21.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.8 steals, while shooting .522 from the field for an undefeated (32-0) Great Lakes Valley Conference champion team as a senior in 2019-20. Drury finished its season as the number one team in NCAA II.
Diestelkamp was inducted into Drury's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2026.
Diestelkamp graduated from Drury with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminology in 2020, and graduated from SLU with a master’s in Student Personnel Administration in May 2022.
