Karen Haag is in her seventh year as head coach of The College of Saint Rose women's basketball team where she has remodeled the Golden Knights into a team that is once again poised to stake its claim as an elite NCAA program. Haag has accomplished that by establishing herself as an astute leader and by providing the College's highly visible women's basketball program with a sense of consistency and a progressive mindset.

"Maintaining the tradition of excellence in the basketball program would be impossible without the support of the College, the athletics department and the tremendous efforts of the student-athletes, support staff and the coaches here at Saint Rose. One of our goals is to instill a pattern of success in our players and constantly challenge them to reach their potential as a student and an athlete. We have lofty goals for the program and truly believe that basketball is an important factor in preparing our student-athletes for life," says Haag.

Haag's impact is quite apparent. The Golden Knights garnered their second consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament and made their fourth straight appearance in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament a year ago. At season's end, Haag was awarded the 2007 Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 1 Coach of the Year after Saint Rose won its first eight regular-season contests, was ranked as high as 20th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II poll and finished with a 21-9 overall record en route to a second place finish in the NE-10 standings (16-6). It marked the first time the Golden Knights were ranked nationally since the 2000-01 campaign.

The 2005-06 season was a major stepping stone for Haag as she guided the Golden Knights to a 19-13 overall mark and an appearance in the NE-10 Tournament championship game. After winning its last six games to close out the season, Saint Rose was rewarded with its first NCAA Tournament bid in five years. Furthermore, it marked the first winning season for the women's basketball program in Haag's tenure.

Haag has certainly brought the program a long way in her relatively short tenure. She was dealt a difficult hand during her first year on Western Avenue as Saint Rose finished 8-18 in 2001-02. Haag had to make do without the presence of a National Player of the Year candidate, while injuries left her with only six healthy bodies by the time February rolled around. Regardless, the Golden Knights proved that they had absorbed their mentor's teaching, sense of accountability and commitment by winning two of their final four games at a time when nobody would have batted an eye had they simply closed shop and called it a year.

The Golden Knights were well underway to building upon that momentum the following year when they won three of their first five games. Unfortunately, the injury bug struck again and Saint Rose had to make a go of it without two of its more prominent players the rest of the way. The end result was an 8-19 mark and a plethora of questions of what may have been.

Haag arrived at this junction of her career via Wilkes University, a NCAA III institution in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where she spent 10 years at the helm of the Lady Colonels after spending two years at SUNY-Delhi. With Haag's guidance, Wilkes made four postseason appearances throughout her final eight years and won the 1993 ECAC South Region title, the program's first championship of any kind. She also guided Wilkes to the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs from 1995 through 1997, the first time in school history that the program made three consecutive conference playoff appearances.

Haag spent three summers coaching various college All-Star teams overseas including trips to Italy in 1997, Spain in 1996 and Australia in 1995. At SUNY-Delhi, Haag led the Broncos to a 34-13 record and into the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Region III Tournament during each of her two seasons. Prior to her tenure at Delhi, Haag was an assistant for former head coach Mari Warner at the University at Albany. Haag also held an assistant coach position at Ithaca College and spent three years as a head coach at Oneonta High School.

In addition to her coaching responsibilities, Haag is in charge of scheduling and also serves as the advisor to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in her role as the department's Senior Woman Administrator.

A strong advocate of community service, Haag is a co-founder of Camp BraveHearts which is a series of retreats designed for women who have been diagnosed with cancer. The camp affords participants an opportunity to learn new skills, increase self-esteem and confidence, and help address the risks and fears that many women face during and after treatment. Haag, who is a cancer survivor herself, has also been involved with "Coaches vs Cancer" for the American Cancer Society. She also served on the Wilkes-Barre YMCA Board of Directors in addition to participating in numerous other community service ventures.

Haag graduated from Oneonta State in 1984 with a degree in English and secondary education. She also holds a master's degree in curriculum planning and development from the University at Albany.

A star player in her own right, Haag is among Oneonta State's all-time leaders in scoring, assists and steals. The team's Most Valuable Player following both her junior and senior seasons, Haag garnered All-Conference accolades from the SUNYAC as a senior. She recently became the first female basketball player inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame.