Coach Bernard joined the Menlo College Women's Basketball coaching staff prior to the 2021-22 season and brings a wealth of coaching experience to the Oaks.
Bernard spent her collegiate days at Clarks Summit University in Pennsylvania. She enjoyed a four year collegiate basketball career for the DIII program playing primarily in a sixth man role off the bench for the Defenders. In her time at CSU, the Defenders went from winning 16 games in her first two seasons, to winning 32 in her upperclassman days. She also played four years of collegiate tennis while at Clarks Summit.
Following her time as a collegiate athlete, Coach Bernard moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where she took the helm of the junior varsity and varsity girls basketball programs at Academia Los Pinares. There, Coach Bernard had oversight of all three girls basketball teams, made up of girls grades 7-12. In five seasons, she led her squad to two second place finishes at the Honduran "Ten Best" Tournament and a second place finish at the Honduran National Championship.
After a very successful five seasons in Honduras, Coach Bernard made the jump to coaching at the collegiate level, taking on an Assistant Coaching role at Ohio Wesleyan University, a DIII school in Delaware, Ohio. While on staff for the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan, Coach Bernard had a plethora of responsibilities including recruiting, opponent scouting, and monitoring the academic success of her student-athletes. Over two seasons at OWU, Coach Bernard helped her team move from one win in 2017-18 to 11 in 2018-19, including a victory at the NCAC Tournament, Ohio Wesleyan's first since 2015.
From Ohio Wesleyan, Coach Bernard made her final stop before heading west to Menlo, joining the staff at Ohio Christian University, an NAIA school located in Circleville, Ohio and a member of the River State Conference. In her two seasons with the Trailblazers, she split time between an Assistant Coaching role as well as taking the helm as the Interim Head Coach for time. Over those two seasons, OCU amassed a record of 29-22 including a RSC Title in 2020, the first in school history. She recruited and coached five All-Conference selections and two All-Americans, but now turns her focus to helping lead the Oaks back to the NAIA National Tournament.
On the addition of Coach Bernard to her staff, Menlo Women's Basketball Head Coach Shannon Spataro noted, "We are very excited about Kellie joining our program! She has great experience both coaching and recruiting in the NAIA and we look forward to her bringing that experience to Menlo and positively impacting our players and our program."
Coach Bernard originally hails from Swayzee, Indiana. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Health and Physical Education from Clarks Summit University and a Master's Degree in Adapted Physical Education from Western Michigan University.
