Former West Virginia standout Ayana “YaYa” Dunning re-joined the Mountaineers in the summer of 2017 as the assistant director of basketball operations.
Dunning spent the two previous seasons as the director of women's basketball operations at the College of Charleston. Before her work with the Cougars, she served as an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College.
The Columbus, Ohio, native spent three seasons as a Mountaineer from 2011-13, and was notably the Mountaineers’ first-ever McDonalds All-American recruit. She finished her illustrious college career with 736 points, 602 rebounds and 63 blocks in 99 games played. Dunning served as a captain during the 2012-13 campaign, earned Big 12 all-conference honors and was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams. Her 207 offensive rebounds and 602 boards are both 15th on WVU’s all-time ledger.
In her most recent stop, Dunning was solely responsible for managing the budget for the College of Charleston women's basketball team. Additionally, Dunning was the executive director of all summer camps, execution of scheduling contracts, team meals and other day-to-day operations. She trained and supervised managers and volunteers, while scheduling all workouts, practices, study hall, team meetings, community service and other team functions.
Prior to her arrival at CofC, she made her coaching debut as an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College. She helped lead the Tritons to a 20-12 overall record, with four of her players reaching ICCAC All-Region honors under her tutelage.
Dunning served as the communications intern for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association from January to May 2014 and also served as the women's basketball color analyst for the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG from October 2013 to January 2014. She returned to serve as the color commentator for the WVU women’s basketball team for the 2017-18 and remains in that role.
Coming out of Eastmoor High in Columbus, Ohio, Dunning was a McDonalds All-American, Slam Magazine All-American, EA Sports All-American, Parade All-American and WBCA All-American. Dunning earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from West Virginia University, a Master’s in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Sport Management from Troy University
