Manhattan University Head Coach Heather Vulin enters her tenth season with the Jaspers in 2025-26. Known as a tenacious and tireless recruiter with over 20 years of coaching experience, she was named the eighth head coach in program history on April 25, 2016.

For the fifth time over the past six seasons, Manhattan finished over .500 by compiling a 16-15 record for the 2024-25 season. As the No. 8 seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship, Manhattan defeated No. 9 Canisius in the opening round before falling just short against No. 1 Fairfield. Manhattan started the season 5-1 which is the best start to a season in Vulin’s nine-year tenure to date. Four of the wins came by double digits versus CCSU, LIU, Hofstra and UMBC with the other victory being a seven-point triumph at Draddy Gymnasium over crosstown rival Fordham. The Jaspers raised eyebrows around the league by dismantling Rider at home by 41 points and Mount St. Mary’s on the road by 28 points over a two-game stretch in early January

Senior guard Nitzan Amar concluded the 2024-25 season tied for 60th nationally in assists-per-game (4.6) and stood in 85th in minutes-per-game (34.50). 

With a talented roster from top to bottom, the 2022-23 squad had multiple scoring threats and were able to use it to their advantage down the stretch. After finishing MAAC play 10-10, Manhattan earned a spot in the 2023 MAAC Championship Game for the second consecutive year.  Vulin’s top scoring option, Dee Dee Davis, was tabbed to the All-MAAC First Team after averaging 15.4 points-per-game. That season, Davis recorded the program’s first triple-double since 1994, posting 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 73-47 win over Long Island University on December 22, 2022. 

In the classroom, the Jaspers were named a Top 25 WBCA All-Academic Team for their GPA.

The 2021-2022 campaign saw Vulin continue to build on the team’s successes over the previous two years. She led the Jaspers to a 21-11 record, the most wins in a single season since the 2010-2011 season, and the team’s third straight winning season, including a 14-6 record in MAAC play. As the No. 3 seed in the MAAC Championship, the Jaspers advanced to the championship game where it faced Fairfield. During the Jaspers’ run in Atlantic City, Manhattan took down Canisius, 61-49, in the Quarterfinals and then proceeded to beat No. 2 Quinnipiac, 72-59, in the Semifinals. 

In 2021-22, four Jaspers earned All-MAAC honors, highlighted by Dee Dee Davis and Courtney Warley taking their spots on the All-MAAC First Team; Brazil Harvey-Carr on the All-MAAC Third Team; and Petra Juric taking home All-Rookie honors. Warley and Davis’ dual inclusion on the First Team marked the first time the program had ever placed two on the top team in the same season. Additionally, Warley and Davis both earned All-Met Second Team honors for their efforts.

Under Vulin’s guidance, Warley became the second player in program history to join the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound club. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native reached the rebounding milestone by pulling down eight boards in a 72-45 win over Marist on January 8, 2022. 

The 2020-2021 campaign was highlighted by Vulin and the Jaspers compiling their best MAAC-winning percentage (.750) since the 2002-03 campaign. The Jaspers earned a bid to the 2021 Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI), and after dropping the opening battle with eventual champion Cleveland State, Manhattan defeated Loyola Chicago in for the program’s first postseason win since 2011-12. 

The 2020-21 Jaspers, who were picked first in the MAAC Preseason Poll, featured the starpower of Courtney Warley whose double-double average of 11.9 points and 10.6 rebounds made her one of only two players in the league to average in double figures in two major categories. That season, Warley posted top 10 MAAC marks in rebounds, minutes, steals and blocks. Additionally, Dee Dee Davis led Manhattan in scoring and ranked sixth in the MAAC in three-point field goals per game (2.0).

Warley and Dee Davis notched All-MAAC Second Team honors at the conclusion of the 2020-21 seasons, further solidifying their legacies while playing for Vulin. 

A reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year under Vulin’s watch, sophomore guard Emily LaPointe provided the season’s signature moment with a putback basket at the buzzer that was the difference in a 71-70 overtime win over MAAC reigning champions Quinnipiac.

In 2019-20, Vulin led the Jaspers to the program’s best finish since 2011, as the Jaspers finished 15-14 overall and 12-8 MAAC in MAAC play. Manhattan won six of its last seven games, including its final five games, to secure the No. 4 seed for the MAAC Championship. Though Manhattan’s season came to an abrupt end when the tournament was cancelled due to the onset of COVID-19, the Jaspers finished the season ranked 66th in scoring defense (59.8) and 74th in turnover margin (1.0).

LaPointe became the program’s first unanimous MAAC Rookie of the Year while being named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team and All-Met Third Team. It was the third-straight season that a Vulin player earned MAAC All-Rookie recognition, as well as the third-straight year a Jasper player took home one of the conference’s major postseason awards. Additionally, Warley received First Team All-MAAC honors, as well as All-ECAC Second Team and All-Met Second Team accolades.

In 2018-19, her third at the helm, Vulin’s Manhattan squad won four of its last five games of the regular season while battling injury adversity throughout.  The Jaspers earned the No. 6 seed at the MAAC Championship in Albany, beating No. 11 Saint Peter’s by 21 points before falling to No. 3 Marist in the Quarterfinals, the second year in a row the Jaspers reached the final eight. The young Jaspers saw its freshmen and sophomore classes account for approximately 70 percent of all minutes played.

In Vulin's second season, the Jaspers improved five games in the win column, finishing with 13-18 overall with a 9-9 mark in MAAC play. Manhattan faced a challenging schedule that included seven opponents that qualified for postseason play, including California and Virginia. Additionally, No.7 Manhattan won its first conference tournament game in the Vulin era by dispatching No. 10 Iona by 16 points in the First Round. Courtney Warley was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. 

In 2016-17, Vulin’s inaugural campaign piloting the Jaspers, the Jaspers won its season opener under their first-year head coach, defeating the Holy Cross Crusaders, 60-56, at Draddy Gymnasium on November 11, 2016. Manhattan won three of its first four games to open the campaign, including victories over Yale and Brown in addition to the win over Holy Cross. Despite an injury-plagued year, Vulin implemented her #playGREEN slogan, which is centered on an intense focus on recruiting and a tenacity on defense that have become hallmarks of Manhattan women’s basketball.

 At Manhattan, Vulin has played a role in the development of Kayla Grimme, a 2017-18 All-MAAC Second Team selection and back-to-back All-Met Third Team selection who later played professionally in Portugal and now works as Member Experience Executive for the Boston Celtics, whom she earned an NBA championship ring with in 2024. Grimme finished her four-year career with 1,433 points and 961 rebounds, and is one of two just players in Manhattan women’s basketball history to record 1,300 or more points and 900 or more rebounds. 

Under Vulin’s tutelage, Amani Tatum was named to the 2017-18 All-MAAC Third Team, after finishing tops in the MAAC for the second straight season in assists per game and steals per game. Gabby Cajou was named MAAC Sixth Player of the Year following the 2017-18 campaign, and is the only player in program history to ever win the award. 

All told, Vulin has mentored three MAAC Major Award winners, eight All-MAAC honorees and three MAAC All-Rookie Team recipients.

In addition to these athletic achievements, Vulin’s players excel in the classroom, having earned a cumulative GPA of 3.61 in 2019-20. The program also placed fifth among Division I women’s basketball programs for community service hours logged during the 2019-20 academic year. 

Vulin works hard to develop leaders around her, as evidenced by the selection of Amani Tatum for the WBCA’s “So You Want to be a Coach” program in 2018, making Tatum the only player chosen from the MAAC that year. Two former players, Maeve Parahus and Taylor Williams, were also selected to participate in Sport Changes Life’s Victory Scholars program by embarking on a life-changing year of mentoring young people through sport in the communities of Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Vulin is no stranger to building winning programs. Prior to being named Manhattan’s head coach, all three programs she has been a part of as recruiting coordinator (Virginia Tech, Villanova and Sacred Heart) earned berths to either the NCAA Tournament or the postseason WNIT. At each of these three stops, Vulin had a direct and immediate impact on the program’s recruiting and talent development.

In 2015-16, Vulin served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech. Vulin helped the Hokies post a seven-win turnaround from the 2014-15 campaign and earn a berth in the postseason WNIT, their first postseason appearance in nine years which saw Virginia Tech advance to the second round. The Hokies received votes in both the USA Today and AP polls, and finished the season ranked 11th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.346), as well as 15th in scoring defense (52.9 ppg).

From 2008-2015, Vulin was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Villanova under Harry Perretta, who in 2016 became the 10th active and 14th overall Division I women’s basketball coach to win 700 games at one school. The Wildcats won four Big Five titles, made two NCAA Tournament appearances and earned three postseason WNIT appearances during that span, reaching the quarterfinals of the postseason WNIT in 2015. Villanova posted three consecutive 20-win seasons from 2012-13 to 2014-15. In addition, the Wildcats led the nation in fewest turnovers per game four-straight times (2011-15).

During her time at Villanova, Vulin was responsible for the recruitment of three Gatorade Players of the Year, including Caroline Coyer, the 2013 Virginia Player of the Year and a member of the 2015 U.S. Team at the Pan American Games, and the three-time Delaware Player of the Year. Among the players she recruited and developed were three Big East All-Rookie Team selections, four Big East Sixth Player of the Year honorees, and seven All-Big East performers.

After beginning her coaching career as a graduate assistant at North Dakota State under Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Amy Ruley, Vulin spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart University from 2002-04 before being promoted to recruiting coordinator for the Pioneers from 2004-08. During her time in Connecticut, Vulin helped the Pioneers post a 124-55 overall record and win a pair of Northeast Conference (NEC) championships. She helped recruit players on the 2008-09 squad that became just the third team in NEC history to go undefeated in the regular season and win the tournament championship. While at Sacred Heart, she mentored two NEC Players of the Year (one of which is the all-time leading scorer in program history) and two NEC Rookies of the Year, as well as seven All-NEC players and five NEC All-Rookie selections.

Prior to leaving Sacred Heart in 2008, Vulin recruited current Jaspers Assistant Coach Callan Taylor to attend Sacred Heart. During Taylor’s time with the Pioneers, she earned All-NEC honors each season, including NEC Player of the Year, and became the Pioneers’ all-time leading rebounder (1,123) while ranking second on the Pioneers’ career scoring list (1,822).

A two-sport athlete at Minnesota-Morris, Vulin was a four-year letterwinner in both basketball and volleyball, receiving academic all-conference honors in each. Vulin earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education – social sciences, psychology and women’s studies from Minnesota-Morris in 1999, and a master’s degree in education from North Dakota State in 2003.

Vulin is married to Kevin Vulin, who played basketball at Sacred Heart University and professionally overseas. He previously served as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Sacred Heart, where the couple met in 2002. They have a son, Jack, and a daughter, Ava, and reside in Hartsdale, NY.