WISE – UVA Wise women's basketball head coach Jamie Cluesman has announced that Caitlyn Ross will assume the duties of the top assistant coach position on her staff.

Ross returned to the staff last season as an assistant and will now take on more management responsibilities.

She was a standout player for the Highland Cavaliers from 2019-24, setting several new program records; including starts (134), minutes played (4,584), points in a game (47), and assists (820). The 820 assists also set a new South Atlantic Conference record. Her 1,748 career points scored are the third-most in program history. She was also named to the CSC Academic All-District First Team during her final season, to the SAC All-Freshman team, and named All-SAC and SAC Player of the Week multiple times during her career. Ross is also one of the few Highland Cavalier women's basketball players to notch a triple-double during their career.

Prior to Wise, she was a standout at Midway High School near Kingston, Tennessee where she helped guide the Green Wave to their first appearance in the Tennessee State Tournament in 17 years, scoring 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds in her final game, a loss to eventual state champion Gibson County.  Ross was a two-time district MVP and was named to the Class A All-State Team following her senior season. She was also a standout softball player, earning all-district honors.

"Caitlyn is someone who has already left an incredible mark on UVA Wise Women's Basketball," said Cluesman. "As a player, she put together one of the most successful careers our program has seen, and the same qualities that made her special on the court are what make her such an outstanding coach. She has an exceptional basketball IQ, a tremendous ability to teach the game, and an authentic way of building meaningful relationships with our student-athletes. Since joining our staff, she has helped elevate our program in so many ways, and her impact is felt every day. I'm incredibly excited to have a coach who will help lead our program to new heights as we continue building something special at UVA Wise. There is no one I trust more to help lead and develop the young women in our program."

When asked about returning to Wise last season, Ross said, "I am excited to be back where it all came together for me. Being able to help the women on the team learn and grow throughout their many stages of life excites me and I hope that I can use some of my experience to get them through tougher challenges. I also am just really excited to be on the other side of sports and working/ learning from Coach Cluesman and all the knowledge that she has."

Ross and the staff are already at work preparing the team for the 2026-27 season in addition to hosting camps later this summer..