Asst Sports Performance Coach
AJ Whitehead was raised in Nappanee, Indiana where she started playing basketball at the age of 4. Whitehead had a stellar high school basketball career at Northwood High School, including all-state honors as a team MVP for a 25-1 state finalist team as well as receiving the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award for girls’ basketball in 1997.
Whitehead went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Sports Studies from Bethel College in 2001 and then attained her Master's degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion from California University of Pennsylvania in 2017.
Whitehead played basketball at Bethel College, leading her team to the 2000 NCCAA National Championship. Whitehead also received numerous awards in her college career, including 2000 NCCAA National Player of the Year and National Tournament MVP, 2001 NAIA All-American, 2001 MCC Conference Player of the Year, and was also a three-time NCCAA All-American. Whitehead was inducted into the Bethel College Hall of Fame in 2010 and most recently was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2022 Women’s Silver Anniversary Team.
Whitehead got her start into the field as an intern at Texas A&M University in 2009 under mentors Jen Jones and Ray Ellsworth. That internship was followed by stints at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Turkish Basketball Federation and various professional Turkish clubs, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Purdue University before joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers in June 2021 as an Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning, working with the women's basketball program in hopes to resurrect it. Whitehead additionally oversees the strength and conditioning internship program for Wisconsin at the Kohl Center.
Whitehead spent time playing basketball overseas and finds great value in learning new cultures. Whitehead is also intermediate in the Turkish language. Some of the most unique growing opportunities in her coaching career have been laying the foundation to a strength and conditioning program in Turkey and transitioning a DII UMass Lowell program to DI. Whitehead’s passion is to empower young women in the weight room and for them to carry this confidence and courage beyond the court.
Whitehead would like to thank the late Keith Vinci, former UMass Lowell Director of Sports Performance, who taught her how to meet young student athletes where they are at and bring them with her. Whitehead is forever grateful to all the women strength coaches who have gone before who have demonstrated what it means to lead with strength and confidence.
Whitehead lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her fiancé, Gina Sabbia.
