The Eastern athletic department announced the final four candidates for the women’s head basketball coaching position in a press release Wednesday.

An experienced pool of finalists has been selected which includes Chris Kielsmeier, Rekha Patterson, Debbie Black and Krystal Reeves-Evans.

Kielsemeier has completed five seasons at Wayne State. He is the only candidate who is currently in a head coaching position.

According to a Wayne State press release, he recorded one NCAA Division III title at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. Additionally, Kielsemeier has a 99-25 record at Wayne State and three consecutive NCAA D-II national tournament appearances. While at Howard Payne, he developed a reputation for putting talented defensive units on the court.

Patterson is an associate coach and recruiting coordinator at Baylor University. She has coached at a number of schools including a stint at Eastern. She actively worked with recruiting, scouting and academic affairs for the teams she managed.

Patterson obtained her master’s degree in education at Baylor while serving as a graduate assistant for the basketball team. Patterson was a part of the coaching staff for Baylor’s most recent national championship team.

Black spent 18 years as a professional basketball player from 1985-2004. She played in far-flung places like Italy and Australia before returning to the U.S. as a coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Black worked with recruiting and placed a multitude of players in professional leagues, according to an Ohio State press release.

Reeves-Evans completed her first year at Georgetown this season after serving on the coaching staff at Gardner-Webb University for 10 years, two of which were as associate head coach.

She has established herself as an offensive strategist whose high-octane teams completed back-to-back 20 win seasons at GWU for the first time in the history of the program. Reeves-Evans also has experience in academic affairs because she worked as an adjunct professor during her tenure at GWU.

“We had a tremendous amount of interest in our women’s basketball head coaching position at Eastern Illinois,” Athletic Director Barbara Burkes said in a press release from the athletic department.

The candidates arrived for on-campus interviews beginning last week. Reeves-Evans, the last of the candidates to be interviewed, will be available at the community forum set for 4 p.m. in the Lantz Club Room.

Michael Spencer can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].