By IWU Sports Information
BLOOMINGTON – The recipient of a number of honors as a player at Illinois State and a former assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan, Tiffany Prager has been chosen as IWU’s next head softball coach, athletic director Mike Wagner announced today.
Prager replaces Kat McCreery, who left in July for a family move to Kansas.
A Titan softball assistant in 2012 and 2013, Prager has been an assistant coach at the University of Dayton for the past three seasons and has been the top assistant for the Flyers softball staff since July 2015.
“We are thrilled to welcome back Tiffany Prager to our Titan family,” said Wagner. “Her philosophy, values, and work ethic align perfectly with our departmental goals, expectations and core values. She rose to the top of a very talented pool of candidates and was the overwhelming choice of the search committee. Coach Prager’s passion for softball along with her strong commitment to making a difference in the lives of her student-athletes was evident during the interview process and throughout her career.
“In her two years as an IWU assistant coach, she made an indelible impression on all of us with her enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and humility. Since that time she has only grown in her experiences and knowledge as a teacher of the game she loves.”
I am truly honored and humbled to have this incredible opportunity to lead the Illinois Wesleyan Softball program as their next head coach,” Prager said. “I would like to thank Mike Wagner, the administration, and everyone involved in this process for believing in the vision I have for our team moving forward.
“I couldn’t be more excited to continue this journey of encouraging and empowering young women to be their best on and off the softball field at IWU.”
At Dayton, she helped lead the Flyers to the program’s first Atlantic 10 regular season championship and first appearance in the A-10 conference title game in 2015, when the squad set season records for wins (39), conference wins (20), and batting average (.291).
As a graduate assistant at Illinois State in 2014, Prager assisted with day-to-day program operations, recruitment, hitting and defensive instruction and coaching first base. She also coordinated travel and meal arrangements and monitored team academic study tables.
Prager was a three-year starter and two-year captain for Illinois State as a second baseman and still ranks among the all-time ISU leaders in doubles, sacrifice hits and games played in a season. She was a first team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a senior when she hit .350 with nine doubles. As a sophomore she was a second team all-MVC selection and was named to the 2006 MVC all-tournament team.
In 2007, Prager led Illinois State and the MVC with 16 doubles and was seventh in the nation in sacrifice hits per game (0.42). She hit .304 with 59 hits, 36 runs and a .418 slugging percentage.
Prager, who amassed impressive academic honors to match her softball feats, earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2008 and received her master’s degree in sports administration in December 2014.
She received ISU’s Laurie Mabry Award in 2007, which is given to a student-athlete whom best exemplifies positive values and attitudes that can be learned through athletics. For two years at ISU, Prager was an academic all-district selection, a first team all-MVC Scholar-Athlete, a recipient of the State Farm Student-Athlete Academic Excellence Good Neighbor Award (2006, 2007) and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete (2005, 2006).
A product of Stanford (Ill.) Olympia High School, she led the Spartans to the IHSA Class A state softball championships in 2002 and 2003 and a second place finish in 2001. She was elected to the Olympia High School Hall of Fame. She began her coaching career as a hitting instructor for individual players and summer teams in the Bloomington-Normal area.
