LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State Head Coach Adeniyi Amadou has made his first hire as the 13^th head coach in program history, announcing the addition of Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Asami Morita. Morita adds to the Crimson & White staff following three seasons as the head coach at Division-II Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 
In her three seasons with the Griffins, Teuila Nawahine and Ellie Mitchell were named All-RMAC honorable mentions, with Mitchell also earning a First Team Academic All-RMAC selection. Nawahine was named to the 2025-26 Allstate NACDA Good Works Team alongside student athletes such as Audi Crooks and Flau'jae Johnson.
 
"As soon as I knew I was coming to Las Cruces, it was immediately clear Asami would be our first choice," said Head Coach Amadou. "She is a veteran coach, with a relentless work ethic and deep recruiting ties overseas and stateside. She will coordinate our recruiting efforts and make an impact within our program from day one. I know she will do all she can to help our student-athletes excel, and that she is a fit with the strong culture we are going to build here."
 
Upon her hiring at Westminster, Morita made history as the first Japanese-born head coach in collegiate basketball and as the first person of full Japanese nationality to be named the head coach of an NCAA basketball program, men's or women's.
 
Before joining Westminster, Morita spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she contributed to significant player development and team success. In her first season, Nevada achieved the second-most wins in program history (20) and earned a selection to the Women's Basketball Invitational. Under her guidance, the program saw multiple All-Mountain West honorees, and the team ranked fourth nationally in free-throw percentage (80.9%), the 11th-best single-season mark in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.
 
At Robert Morris University, Morita led the Colonials to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, three conference tournament championships and four regular-season titles.
 
Morita also served as an assistant coach for the Shiga Lakestars, a professional men's basketball team in Japan's B.League, managing international player recruitment, team travel, scouting, and serving as the team's interpreter.
 
Her coaching journey began at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona, where she worked as an assistant coach, focusing on academics, individual workouts, and guard development. A graduate of Kansai University, where she was a four-year player, Morita later earned her Master of Physical Education in athletic administration from Idaho State University in 2009.
 
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