Former Owensville Dutchgirl basketball standout Hailey Diestelkamp has taken a step up on the coaching ladder.

Earlier this summer, Diestelkamp was hired as a women’s basketball assistant coach for the University of Southern Indiana (USI) in Evansville.

“We are so excited to have Hailey join our staff and USI family,” USI head women’s basketball coach Rick Stein said. “Hailey had an outstanding playing career and has carried that success into coaching.

That outstanding playing career began during the 2012-13 school year and concluded with the 2015-16 school year which saw the Dutchgirls advance to their first Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Show-Me Showdown since 1994.

Since then, Dutchgirl basketball is fresh off a fourth-place finish in Class 4 Girl’s Basketball during the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

As a freshman at Owensville High School, Diestelkamp racked up 409 points and 347 rebounds.

During her sophomore campaign, she surpassed the 1,000-point mark with 593 points and 362 rebounds.

As a junior, Diestelkamp’s point production kept climbing with her compiling 690 points and 327 rebounds.

Those 327 rebounds helped Diestelkamp eclipse 1,000 career rebounds.

Eyeing 2,000 points entering her senior season, HD blitzed that number with 713 points during her final season in an Owensville Dutchgirl basketball uniform.

Pulling down 282 rebounds as a senior, HD ender her outstanding OHS Dutchgirl basketball career with 2,405 points and 1,318 rebounds.

Both of those numbers lead OHS in basketball among girls and boys.

Leaving her mark as one of the best athletes to ever walk the halls of OHS, Diestelkamp took her talents to Drury University (DU) as a member of the Lady Panther basketball program in Springfield.

Posting 383 points and 269 rebounds as a freshman, Diestelkamp was on her way becoming queen of the court at DU in scoring and rebounding like she was at Owensville.

Piling up 490 points and 280 rebounds as a sophomore, Diestelkamp put herself in good position to reach 1,000 career points in college.

Nearly doubling her point total from her previous two seasons, HD poured in 758 points while grabbing 316 rebounds as a junior.

Both of those numbers at the time were DU single-season records.

This past season, DU’s Reese Schaf bumped Diestelkamp down to second in the single-season rebounding ranks with 317 boards.

Scoring 692 points and pulling down 237 rebounds, HD ended her storied DU basketball career with 2,323 points and 1,102 rebounds.

Both of those career numbers stand today.

Diestelkamp’s 758 points as a junior and 692 points as a senior occupy the top two spots on DU’s single-season scoring list.

Along with HD’s 316 rebounds as a junior good for second all time, her 280 boards as a sophomore rank her fourth on the single-season rebound list while she also occupies the sixth spot on that list thanks to her 269 rebounds as a freshman.

Diestelkamp also owns several additional records at DU.

Torching the nets for 53 points against Rockhurst back in 2020, that mark also set a new Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) scoring record which still stands today.

Also making 21 field-goal attempts against Rockhurst during that game, HD owns the GLVC single-game record in that department.

Diestelkamp was a two-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year, a two-time First Team All-American, a two-time GLVC Player of the Year, and GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2016-17.

She was also named GLVC Player of the Week nine times during her time as a DU Lady Panther.

Graduating with a with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Criminology in 2020 from DU, she later graduated from SLU with a master’s in Student Personnel Administration in May 2022

Before coming to USI, Diestelkamp was the Director of Basketball Operations for Missouri State University Women’s Basketball for two seasons under the direction of head coach Beth Cunningham.

Prior to Missouri State, Diestelkamp served as a graduate assistant for Saint Louis University. While at SLU, Diestelkamp assisted with game-day preparation, player development, setting up community service activities, and coordinating post game and travel meals.

“Hailey has worked for some great coaches in winning programs and will bring with her a passion and love for the game,” Stein added. “Her experiences as a graduate assistant and director of basketball operations will be very beneficial to our program as she makes the move to USI and the Ohio Valley Conference.”