ISU head women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly didn’t have to look far for another assistant coach. She was practically right next door.

Fennelly named Ames resident Jodi Steyer as an ISU assistant coach Tuesday, and in the process reunited himself with a coach he spent six years with at Toledo.

“I am very excited that Jodi has decided to join our staff. She is an outstanding coach who has great knowledge of our program and the community,” Fennelly said in a statement released by ISU Media Relations. “Coach Steyer possesses the qualities that make for a good assistant coach; she is a great role model for our players, an outstanding teacher of the game and she is a tireless worker. Jodi worked for me in Toledo for six years and did a fantastic job. I am confident she will do the same here at Iowa State.”

Steyer spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Toledo, including six years with Fennelly, but has lived in Ames the last four years.

During that time she’s stayed active with the ISU women’s basketball program, helping with ISU basketball camps and instructing area youth groups and individuals.

“Six years ago, when I left the coaching profession to start a family, I could have never dreamt I would have the chance to work with Coach Fennelly again and be associated with one of the top programs in the country,” Steyer said.