Nashua North alum Kelsey Hogan makes her debut today as the permanent UNH women;s basketball coach at Boston College. (Photo courtesy of the University of New Hampshire)

Today Nashua’s Kelsey Hogan will take the next step in her storied life at the University of New Hampshire.

The former Nashua High School North basketball standout has been a Wildcat top player, assistant coach, associate head coach, and interim head coach.

But today, when the ball is tipped off for the Wildcat women at Boston College’s Conte Forum, Hogan will begin what she hopes is a long career as the Wildcats head coach. Period.

“It’s definitely been different, it’s been an adjustment,” said Hogan, who was named interim head coach last March and then was named the permanent coach after the search process ended a month or two month later. “But still for me it’s a dream come true. All the other factors with what’s going on in the world, the pandemic, it’s thrown a wrench, but I’m still grateful and fortunate, and I think with all that’s going on, we’ve become closer together.”

But what is making Hogan very excited is to have the Wildcat players put the UNH uniform on again after seven months off. “I’m excited to see their competitive edge, their fight,” she said.

Hogan has been prepared for all the head coach duties. What she had to adjust to was, what she refers to as the “COVID Effect.”

“There’s a lot of little things you wouldn’t even think about,” Hogan said. “We have been on the court, we’ve been been preparing, getting ready for this.But it is a different preparation with the protocols, etc.”

Meetings with the players six feet apart. Masks, Hand sanitizer, wiping down the basketball.

But playing a season.

“We’re so excited to be where we’re at,” Hogan said. “It’s a big thanks to the hard work of the administration, our committee, a COVID committee, that was put together. … It’s a big thank to them that we can even have a season opener. And congrats to the young ladies on our team for doing the right thing, staying with the protocols. It’s really exciting. … putting safety first. That’s the big thing.

“It’s all due to the hard work of everyone involved.”

Hogan was ultra competitive as a player and has worked to instill that sense into her players, whom she met with on Tuesday to reinforce that feeling.

“I was telling them we need to go in with confidence, have that fight and compete,” Hogan said. “But you know what, there’s going to be mistakes. It’s what we do after that, how do we bounce back. That’s going to show the success and how we’re going to go moving forward.”

Hogan has the Wildcats in a new system, one in which “they want to play at the speed we’re allowing them to go to. Of course there’s going to be nerves because we’re young, but I tell them, how are they going to use those nerves?”

Hogan isn’t the only local involved in today’s game for UNH. Hudson’s Amanda Torres is the Wildcats’ lone senior. She didn’t play her high school ball at Alvirne, but rather a year at Trinity of Manchester and then went to Proctor Academy. She’s one of the Wildcat captains and last year was second on UNH in scoring at 10.4 points a game and in assists with a total of 79 after starting all 29 games.

“Amanda Torres had a breakout year last year for us,” Hogan said. “She was a lockdown defender. She was our stable force last year. When we needed a score, we went to her.

“I’m so proud of her. She just continues to get better. And you know I love my Granite Staters. I can’t wait to see how she’s going to build off last year. She’s been killing it at practice. She’s grown on her leadership qualities, talking more, leading by example. She’s going to have a great year.”

It’s already been a great year for Hogan. Now her dream becomes reality.

“You get some nerves there, but once that ball is tipped, you pull that switch, and you get that competitive nature,” Hogan said. “That’s how I’m going to approach it.”

The Wildcats head to Bryant on Friday and then make their Lundholm Gym debut on Dec. 5 vs. NJIT.

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