Michelle Proulx
Michelle Proulx
  • Title:
    Head Women's Basketball Coach
  • Phone:
    (413) 265-2342
  • Email:
    proulxm@elms.edu

Bio

PROULX AT A GLANCE:
Alma Mater: Elms College
Record at Elms: 91-86
NECC/Conference Record: 50-20
Seasons at Elms: 8
Accomplishments: Assistant Coach during only NECC tournament championship in program history

Michelle Proulx was hired as head coach of the Elms College women’s basketball team prior to the 2014-15 season. She has compiled a record of 61 wins and 49 losses in her four seasons.

The 2017-18 Elms College women’s basketball team finishes with an 11-16 overall record, and a 9-7 conference record. The team won their first NECC tournament game against Wheelock College by the score of 63-54. They went on to face top seeded Newbury College In the semifinals and fell by the score of 61-53. Senior Mackenzie LaRochelle and Junior Niah Pantry each earned second-team All NECC honors.

In 2016-17, the Blazers collected their first victory over the season with a 75-71 win over Johnson State at the Mount Ida Mustang Classic, and then notched three straight victories, including NECC victories over Newbury College and Daniel Webster College. Following winter break, the Blazers traded wins and losses while posting victories over Wheelock College and Lesley University. The Blazers closed the season strong winning nine of their final 11 games, featuring victories over Becker College and Daniel Webster College to head to the NECC Championship Tournament as the second-seed. The Blazers rolled to an 89-76 win over Daniel Webster in the Quarterfinals, and then edged out Becker College, 63-61, to earn berth in the Championship game for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Elms fell to Regis College (Mass.), 92-49, in the title game on February 25. Senior Alexandra Marques and junior Mackenzie LaRochelle both claimed Second Team All-NECC honors, while senior Emily Burr was named Third Team All-NECC.

During the 2015-16 season, the Blazers posted a record of 15-13 overall, including a 13-5 mark in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC), earning the fourth-seed in the postseason tournament. After dropping the first three games of the season, the Blazers rebounded to win four straight games, featuring a trio of conference victories over Newbury College, Daniel Webster College, and Mitchell College. Elms battled through a tough non-conference schedule with tilts against St. Joseph (Conn.) and Bridgewater State. After falling to Wheelock College in NECC play, Elms posted back-to-back victories over Becker College and Lesley University, before being edged out in conference games against Regis College and Southern Vermont College. The Blazers were hot during the month of February, going 6-1 over the final seven conference games to earn the fourth seed. The Blazers downed Southern Vermont in the first round, 68-61, to advance to tournament semifinals, where Elms fell to top-seeded Regis, 60-40. The Blazers earn a bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament, and fell to Endicott College, 92-56. 

In her first season at the helm, Proulx guided the Blazers to the second-best campaign in program history notching 18 wins including a 15-3 mark in NECC action to earn its fourth straight second seed in the conference postseason tournament. Elms streaked through the conference play, opening league play with three straight wins, including a pair of home victories. After a loss at Regis, the Blazers rattled off five consecutive wins, defeating opponents by an average of 16.4 points. Elms won four of their final five conference contests, including a 103-38 drubbing of Lesley University on February 11th, heading into the NECC tournament. The Blazers opened their postseason play with an 86-48 victory over seventh-seeded Daniel Webster College, behind a 27-point, 20-rebound performance from senior Denisha Parks. Elms squared off with Southern Vermont in the semifinals, where the Mountaineers earned their first championship appearance with a 70-65 win over Elms to wrap the Blazers season. 

During Coach Proulx's five years as an assistant, the Blazers amassed a record of 76-62 including a program-best 20-8 mark during the 2011-12 season that saw Elms win the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship and secure it’s first-ever spot in the NCAA Division III Championship.

A 2008 graduate of Elms, Coach Proulx played four years of basketball for the Blazers from 2004-05 to 2007-08, helping the team to 36 wins during the stretch as members of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC). A stellar point guard with terrific court vision and passing prowess, Coach Proulx helped Elms to back-to-back NAC Championship quarterfinal appearances in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and again in 2007-08.

Coach Proulx ranks in Elms' top 10 all-time in career games played (101), steals (136), three-point field goals made (133) and attempted (525) and field goals attempted (706). Upon her graduation in 2008, she was the program's all-time leader in assists with 220 and now ranks third in the category. Coach Proulx finished her career with 635 points averaging 6.3 per game and collected 206 total rebounds.

On the hardwood, she was a three-year captain, four-year starter and was a two-time (2006-07, 2007-08) NAC All-Academic selection. Coach Proulx was also a two-year member of the Elms field hockey program and in 2004 was named Honorable Mention All-NAC.

From 2008 to August of 2013, Coach Proulx served as an Elms Admissions counselor and as the Director of the Student Ambassador program where she worked with prospective students from Hampden County, Worcester County the public schools in Springfield, Mass. and other outlying territories. In 2013, she was promoted to Assistant Director of Admissions at Elms. Her chief duties included travel coordination for the entire office, mentor for first year admissions counselors, managing on-campus admissions events and continued travel and review of territories in the Springfield area.

Coach Proulx also brings vast Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) coaching experience including a stint with the Connecticut Wave AAU team at the U-15 and U-16 levels from March 2012 to August 2013. Her 2012 U-15 team won the Connecticut State bronze medal.

In addition, she also served as Mass. Frenzy AAU basketball coach (U-14/U-15) in 2008 and 2009, was the head coach of the west team during the Bay State Games in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and helped direct the Bentley University Overnight Basketball Camp in August of 2011 and 2012. Coach Proulx was also the head junior varsity coach and assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Chicopee High School from August 2008 to August 2009.

Coach Proulx graduated from Elms in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in English with a writing concentration and a minor in coaching.