Former Lincoln Academy star player Brie Wajer (2017) is an assistant coach and Director of Player Development for the women’s basketball program at Army West Point, a Division I program that is 8-2 to start the season. The 1,000 point scorer at LA came home for the holidays and enjoyed going to Lincoln Academy boys and girls basketball games. (Mic LeBel photo)
While many kids may dream of becoming a college or professional athlete, Brie Wajer told her parents she wanted to be a coach when she was 6 years old.
Now, that dream is a reality as Wajer, a 2017 Lincoln Academy graduate, is in the middle of her first year as assistant coach and director of player development for the women’s basketball team at Army West Point, a NCAA Division I program.
Wajer cited her family as the biggest inspiration for her love of coaching, the origins of which date back to when she was watching a Celtics game with her father, Chris. In addition to the players on the court, Wajer found herself watching the coach.
“Then, when I was 6, I was on the sideline at one of my siblings’ games loudly suggesting ways the players could improve and yelling at the referees,” Wajer said. “My dad and my mom Christine could see my passion, and ever since my whole family has supported my path toward being a coach.”
Being the youngest of three siblings has also helped her succeed at playing and coaching sports, Wajer said. Her sister Alex played softball at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. and her brother Ethan played soccer at Curry College in Milton, Mass. When she and her parents went to their games, Wajer picked up more about coaching dynamics than she realized at the time, she said.
Her parents also coached her teams growing up. Her father was her travel team basketball coach while her mother coached Wajer’s youth softball team.
“I was super fortunate that my parents were always so involved and continue to give me good advice,” she said.
Wajer was a three-sport athlete during her time at Lincoln Academy, but she is perhaps best remembered as a standout basketball player. A dynamic 1,000-point scorer, Wajer led the Eagles to back-to-back regional finals her junior and senior years and was team captain her sophomore, junior, and senior years. According to Kevin Feltis, the varsity girls basketball coach during Wajer’s high school years, she could have been captain her freshman year as well.
“Brie is the ultimate competitor, and from the minute she walked onto the court at Lincoln her freshman year, she took over,” Feltis said. “It was like having a coach in the game, on the court leading the charge. She could have gone to a prestigious national prep school, but instead she chose to put everything into her hometown team and she still makes an effort to be an important part of the community today.”
Years after she kissed the gym floor after her final home game in 2017, Wajer said Lincoln Academy’s Nelson Bailey Gymnasium is one of her favorite places.
“My best memories playing for Lincoln Academy were of the rivalry games with Medomak Valley,” she said. “The atmosphere in the gym is crazy. Back when I was a senior, I remember arriving for a game and seeing a line out the door – and the crowd was wild.”
Wajer still gets to experience the rivalry games from the sidelines. While on holiday break, she volunteered near the entrance of the gym to sell tickets to the LA-Medomak boys basketball games on Dec. 17. Two days later, she got to watch the girls varsity team, now coached by Wajer’s former teammate Cagney O’Brien, defeat Morse 61-34 in Newcastle.
After graduating from LA, Wajer continued her basketball career in college first during a brief stint at Wingate University in North Carolina and then as a non-scholarship walk-on at Villanova her sophomore year. The following year, Wajer earned a full scholarship on the team.
“From the beginning, I mentioned to the Villanova staff that I wanted to get into coaching, so they shared extra coaching insight with me while I was a player,” said Wajer. “Due to the NCAA rules, I had to sit out after transferring from Wingate, and then I played a bit my junior and senior years, but I was limited by injuries.”
Wajer got to learn all the behind-the-scenes aspects of how to run a Division I basketball program, such as how to build out a schedule, how to prep for practices, and how to conduct recruiting.
“I learned from some of the best about how to care for all the little things that make a college program successful,” said Wajer.
Brie Wajer with the game ball after scoring her 1,000th point for Lincoln Academy during a playoff game her senior year in 2017. Wajer is now an assistant coach and Director of Player Development for the women’s basketball team at Army West Point, a NCAA Division I program. (LCN file photo by Paula Roberts)
After Villanova, Wajer was hired as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky University, where she was also the director of basketball operations and learned the travel and business side of running a NCAA program. She held that post for two seasons before joining Army West Point in 2024.
As a player who went through injury challenges at Villanova and fought for the playing time, Wajer can relate to the ambitious young people she mentors at Army West Point, she said. She enjoys helping them set goals, measure success and build toward their future.
“My position is all about bonding with the kids and establishing an improvement process that they help lead so they have some ownership and are invested,” said Wajer. “I watch a lot of film with them and identify holes in their game, and then help them improve those areas.”
According to Wajer, it can be challenging for the cadets to schedule time with her because they’re so busy fulfilling their military leadership commitments.
“The easy part for me is that these kids have extra drive and dedication or they wouldn’t be at West Point to begin with,” said Wajer. “I’m proud to be a part of a program associated with young people that will be helping to lead our nation, but on a day-to-day basis this job is similar to how it would be at other Division I schools. It’s special to be a part of the ceremonies and accomplishments they make as cadets, and I admire their dedication to our country – it’s an honor.”
The Army West Point women’s basketball team has a fresh coaching staff, and the squad currently boasts an 10-2 record. There is a feeling that the program leaders trust their talented young people like Wajer to do what they are best at.
“I feel empowered in the Army West Point program, and my colleagues do, too,” said Wajer.
Wajer is happy with her first season at Army West Point, although she admits she has big plans for the future.
“Being a Division I head coach is a goal for someday, so I have been trying to learn all the facets that go into that from top to bottom,” Wajer said. “It’s all about the people you have around you on the staff – everybody involved in the program and knowing them and understanding their roles and them as people.”
At just 26 years old, time is on her side. Wajer knows an opportunity will come when it is supposed to happen.
“I learn something new every day from the amazing people I work with, and from the kids I coach – it’s all meant to be. I take it one day at a time but when the next opportunity arises I’ll be ready for it,” Wajer said. “I’m so lucky to have a job doing something I am passionate about, and I am thankful every day.”
Wajer also expressed gratitude for the community of Lincoln County, where her family has lived for four generations.
“I owe so much to my experience at Lincoln Academy, to my varsity basketball coach Kevin Feltis and all my teammates there,” Wajer said. “From an early age the whole community taught me how to be a leader in the classroom and on the court. They challenged me and helped develop my team approach and made me who I am today.”
In addition to Feltis, other key mentors in her formative years cited by Wajer include youth travel team coach Donovan York, and Phil Page, the former Lincoln Academy athletic director who can be found at almost every Eagles sports event.
“I always tell people, if you want to understand what my hometown is all about, come see how the community supports our teams,” said Wajer. “The stores in town close down and everyone you know heads to the game to support the kids and the school.”
