Cherie Lea enters her first season as the associate head coach of the Dukes after six seasons as assistant coach. It is her eighth year overall on the Duquesne women's basketball staff in 2022-23. Lea was named assistant coach in September 2016 and associate head coach in June 2022. She was Duquesne's director of operations during the 2013-14 season.
Between stints at Duquesne, Lea was the top assistant at Wingate University, a Division II school in Wingate, N.C. approximately 30 miles southeast of Charlotte. In her two years with the Bulldogs, Lea helped guide the team to a 43-19 (.693) record and a 34-10 (.772) mark in the South Atlantic Conference. Wingate was crowned SAC tournament champions and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16.
As a player at UNC Wilmington, Lea was a two-time Colonial Athletic Association First-Team All-Conference selection and was voted CAA Preseason Player of the Year her senior season. As team captain for the Seahawks her junior and senior seasons, leading UNCW to a 37-19 record in those two years. Additionally, Lea was named UNCW Most Outstanding Player twice.
Lea, who played under Burt when he was an assistant at UNC Wilmington, was a two-time Colonial Athletic Association First-Team All-Conference selection and was voted CAA Preseason Player of the Year her senior season. As team captain for the Seahawks her junior and senior seasons, she led UNCW to a 37-19 record in those two years. Additionally, Lea was named UNCW Most Outstanding Player twice.
A model student-athlete, Lea was the CAA's Scholar Athlete of the Year and was named First-Team All-Academic in 2003 and 2004. She won the Dean Ehlers Award in 2004 which recognizes the student-athlete who embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship, in conjunction with their academic and athletic achievements. Lea was also a member of UNCW's Dean's List and the I-AAA Athletic Director's Association Scholar-Athlete Team. She was a two-time Minority Student-Athlete of the Year and a two-time Golden Seahawk recipient and won the Minority Leadership Award.
After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Lea played professionally for five years in Luxembourg and Holland. While overseas, Lea's teams won two Dutch 1st Division Championships. Individually, Lea was a two-time Dutch League MVP, played in four All-Star Games - winning MVP in 2007 and was a three-time All-Star Team selection.
Following her pro basketball career, Lea was a Program and Facility Supervisor for Danville Parks and Recreation in Danville, Va. before becoming a math teacher at Reidsville High School in Reidsville, N.C. She moved on to Bartlett Yancey High School where she also taught math as well as serving as head girl's basketball coach.
