Heather Cassady-Goad was named the new Richwoods girls basketball head coach on Monday, April 27.
Cassady-Goad spent the 2012-13 campaign with the Knights, guiding them to the 2013 Class 4A Elite Eight before an 11-year career as the Dunlap head coach.
"I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity with Richwoods," Cassady-Goad told the Journal Star. "It's a great group coming back. I'm thankful and grateful for the administration."
Welcome (back) to Head Girls Basketball Coach Heather Cassady-Goad! Coach Cassady-Goad will be at tomorrow's open gym to meet any prospective Richwoods players and families at 5:00 PM.#weRrichwoods | #TheStandardOfExcellence pic.twitter.com/CS7orqHHLD
— Richwoods High School (@Richwoods_HS) April 28, 2026
Cassady-Goad had served as the varsity assistant to Shamar Hill, who resigned earlier this month, for the last two seasons after a one-year stint as an assistant on the Illinois Central College women's basketball bench.
This past season, Richwoods made a Class 4A Sweet Sixteen appearance and posted an undefeated Big 12 Conference season (10-0) and a 24-5 overall record. The Knights will likely return three all-Big 12 Conference first-team players and Division-I prospects in Keniya Todd, Londyn Sommerville and reigning league player of the year Kayla Herron.
"Last year's run was great — the Sweet Sixteen," Cassady-Goad said. "This next group coming in is hungry and they're very hardworking. They're a mature group, which is great."
More: Richwoods girls basketball team boasts trio of Division-I prospects
During her time at Dunlap, she had 170 wins and the 2021 outright Mid-Illini Conference title in 11 seasons. The 1998 Dunlap graduate took the reins of the Eagles program prior to the 2013-2014 season and spent the entire tenure in the Class 3A postseason.
"It's a different route that 4A versus the 3A," Cassady-Goad said, "being at Dunlap and the Mid-Illini (Conference). It was tough to get out (of the postseason) against the Mortons and the Washingtons. It's also tough in 4A."
Cassady-Goad, who is a PE teacher at Kiefer School, is scheduled to be at Tuesday, April 27's open gym to meet the players and families.
Her plans for the summer include being in the ICC and Galesburg summer leagues along with some college camps. Several Big Ten Conference schools are on Cassady-Goad's radar as potential destinations.
"I love going team camps," she said. "I think it builds chemistry. It builds winning those tough, championship games."
In high school, Cassady was a three-time Journal Star Class A basketball player of the year and was runner-up for Illinois Ms. Basketball in 1998. She scored 1,945 points in her career and helped the Eagles to a fourth-place finish in Class A in 1996. She went on to star at Indiana, where she finished with 1,301 points, 411 assists and earned all-Big Ten honors.
She played professionally in Greece, then was an assistant coach for four years at Indiana State. The Sycamores won a Missouri Valley Conference title during her tenure.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA girls basketball: Richwoods hires Heather Cassady as new head coach