College Park Skyhawks Announce Coaching and Basketball Operations Staffs for 2023-24 Season

Coaching Staff Brings International and G League Experience

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – The College Park Skyhawks, the NBA G League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, announced today the coaching and basketball operations staff for the 2023-24 season under Head Coach Ryan Schmidt and General Manager Daniel Starkman.  

Schmidt’s coaching staff includes one returning assistant coach in Ashton Gibbs, and three newcomers: James Maye, Ashton Smith, and Madeline Sulka. 

In the athletic performance department, Rich McLoughlin returns for his second season as strength and conditioning coach, while Kelly German (third season) and Kendyl Miller (second season) return as head athletic trainer and assistant athletic trainer, respectively. 

In the front office, Aaron Evans was promoted to assistant general manager after spending the 2022-23 season as the team’s basketball operations assistant. Logan Mumford joins as the team’s new equipment manager. Phillip Adams and Zac Pine were brought on as basketball operations assistants for the 2023-24 season. Lee Floyd returns as the head of team security.

Coaches: 

Smith joins the Skyhawks coaching staff with three years of coaching experience, including as an assistant coach under Schmidt for the London Lions in 2022-23, where the team won three domestic titles. Smith was an assistant coach for the Raptors 905 during the 2021-22 season and an assistant coach for the Hamilton Honeybadgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) in 2021 and 2022. Smith had a professional playing career that spanned eight years and five countries, including Austria, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, and the United States in the NBA G League. Smith left his alma mater Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) as the all-time leader in wins and assists in 2012. 

Maye comes to the Skyhawks from Venezuela, where in his second stint as an international head coach (2021, 2023), he led the Gladiadores de Anzoategui to the franchise’s first-ever SPB Championship in 2023. He previously served in the G League with the Long Island Nets as assistant and interim head coach (2021-22), as well as an assistant coach with the Greensboro Swarm (2019-20) and the Capital City Go-Go (2018-19). Maye played internationally for 14 seasons (2003-17) and one season in the NBA G League (2006-07). 

Gibbs returns for his second season as an assistant coach for the Skyhawks after spending two seasons prior as an assistant coach at Duquense University. Gibbs was a standout as a player at the University of Pittsburgh, finishing eighth in scoring in school history and second in career three-pointers. Gibbs had a seven-year international playing career that included stops in Greece, Spain, and Argentina, among others. 

Sulka is the first woman to be named an assistant coach for the College Park Skyhawks. She joins from the Phoenix Suns, where she served as the team’s assistant video coordinator during the 2022-23 season. Sulka had spent the previous two seasons with the Suns/Mercury organization, serving in a dual capacity. For the Suns, she was a front office assistant before advancing to assistant video coordinator. With the Mercury, Sulka began as head video coordinator before adding player development responsibilities. Prior to that, she interned with the Los Angeles Sparks while in school at Concordia University-Irvine, where she played collegiately. Sulka earned two Master’s degrees from Arizona State University in 2021 while serving as the women’s basketball program’s graduate assistant. 

Athletic Performance Team:

McLoughlin returns for a second season with the Skyhawks after having spent time at Georgia Southern University, the University of Dayton, and Stanford University as a strength and conditioning coach working with both men’s and women’s basketball teams. 

German joined the Hawks organization in the 2020 season, serving as an assistant athletic trainer with the parent team. She has been the head athletic trainer for the Skyhawks for the past two seasons. The Smyrna, Ga. native has athletic training experience with Clark Atlanta University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as with the Atlanta Dream. German received a master’s degree in athletic training from Life University after obtaining her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Georgia Southern University. 

Miller enters her second year as assistant athletic trainer after receiving a master’s in sports leadership from Southwest Minnesota State University, and her bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Northern Michigan University. Miller has also spent time working in an athletic training capacity for USA Basketball events. 

Front Office: 

Evans was promoted to assistant general manager prior to the 2023-24 season after spending the 2022-23 season as basketball operations assistant. Prior to the Skyhawks, Evans spent three years as director of basketball operations for the men’s basketball program at IUPUI, one of those years serving as an assistant coach as well. Evans also spent three seasons on staff at Marian University, where he also spent some of his collegiate playing career. He was a two-time NAIA All-American with Marian in 2011-12 and 2013-14. He began his college career at Purdue University Calumet. 

Mumford began with the team in 2021 as a team attendant before being promoted to equipment manager prior to the 2023-24 season. She has spent time with Auburn University and the Atlanta Dream and is currently in school at Kennesaw State University, pursuing a degree in sport management. 

Pine comes from Georgetown University, where he most recently was a graduate assistant under Patrick Ewing for his alma mater. 

Adams was a graduate manager for the University of Georgia before becoming video intern from 2021-23. He was also a student manager with the women’s basketball program at Florida State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degrees. 

Floyd returns for his fourth season as head of team security for the Skyhawks after 27 years as a federal law enforcement officer.