Van Vliet, who was then known as Vella is an ISU Alumnus who played a pivotal role in the Bengals’ 2012 Big Sky Championship season and has spent the interim honing her knowledge playing the highest levels of basketball and coaching. 

 

"I'm extremely excited to join the ISU staff as an assistant coach, remarked van Vliet. “For me it's a full circle moment. Coming to ISU as a teenager to play and now coming back with my family to coach. I can't wait to bring all my experience and knowledge back to the place that boosted my career. Coach Sobolewski and I have always had a great relationship and he has always been a mentor to me. I'm grateful for this opportunity to coach at my alma mater."

 

Van Vliet brings strong playing experience to the Bengal coaching staff. From 2009 to 2023, van Vliet has been a presence on the Malta National women’s basketball team as a point guard and power forward. In her time, she has competed in 13 national tournaments, won four gold and five bronze medals and represented the country in its first international 3x3 appearance. 

 

"Ash was my very first recruit when I came to ISU 17 years ago and she helped set the tone for where we are at today,” remarked Head Women’s Basketball Coach Seton Sobolewski. “ She helped us to the 2012 Big Sky championship and two post season bids. She has always had a great basketball mind and I'm glad she will be joining our team again. Ash brings a wealth of experience from playing professionally overseas and with the Malta national team."

 

From 2015-17, van Vliet played in the French professional league for the Tregueux Cote d’Armour where she helped the team in their promotion from NF2 to NF1. 

 

From 2019-23, van Vliet also played for the Hibernians in Malta, winning a regular season championship in 2021-22. She was named the MAPFRE MSV Life Knockout trophy winner in 2022.

 

Van Vliet has also spent her entire career past Idaho State coaching, starting as a community coach in Durham, United Kingdom in 2013. She has coached at Sacre Coueur High School in Tregueux, France, Tregueux Cote D’Armour, where she won the Cup D’Bretagne and was the Head Coach of Hibernian U/23 and U/19 squads in Malta. 

 

In 2023, van Vliet retired to the United States and accepted the Head Coaching position at Lighthouse Christian School in Twin Falls, Idaho. Van Vliet also coached the Magic Valley Basketball Club u15 and u16 AAU teams. 

 

Van Vliet has worked since 2023 as the IMPACT director of the Magic Valley basketball Club overseeing operations and camps for the organization.

 

In 2024, she accepted a position coaching at Twin Falls high school leading the JC squad to a 14-5 (7-1) record.

In her time playing at Idaho State, she was a four-year starter scoring 1,341 points and grabbing 751 rebounds. She earned Big Sky honorable mention twice and was named 2nd team all-Big Sky in the 2012-13 season. As a junior she helped lead the Bengals to an NCAA tournament spot and as a senior a WNIT bid. In 2020, she was named to the Idaho State women's basketball All-Decade team.