Cassie Lastivka returns for her second season on the Milwaukee basketball staff as an assistant coach in 2025-26.
Lastivka comes to Milwaukee after spending the past two seasons at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. While on the staff with the Polar Bears, Lastivka helped lead the team to 44 wins over two seasons, earning trips to the NCAA Division III Championship in each of her two seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023.
While with Ohio Northern, Lastivka was a part of back-to-back Coaching Staffs of the Year, while also help coach Brynn Serbin to All-American Honors in each of her two seasons on the staff. She assisted in practice planning, player development, and game day preparation while also assisting in scouting reports, recruiting, and film breakdown.
Before her time at Ohio Northern, she was on the staff of Wilmington College for two seasons from 2020 through 2022. While with the Quakers, she also served as the interim head coach for three months during her second season at Wilmington.
Lastivka also had stops at Mercy McAuley High School as the head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach, while also serving as a varsity assistant coach for one season at Purcell Marian High School prior.
She began her postgraduate coaching at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, where she was on the staff for its first season of existence in 2015-16.
While finishing her undergraduate degree at Ohio Northern, Lastivka starting her coaching career as a student assistant with the Polar Bears and helping lead the team to 43 victories including a run to the NCAA Division III Championship First Round in 2013-14.
Before her career on the sidelines, Lastivka played for two seasons with the Polar Bears from 2011-13. The team earned 38 wins during her playing career and earned a spot in the OAC Championship game in 2012 before reaching the second round of the NCAA Championship in 2013.
In addition to her time on the sidelines at the collegiate level, she coached for Ohio Elite Basketball from 2020 to 2022 as a coach, while also working in a number of roles with Cincy Nation, including time as a head coach, assistant coach, and an associate director.
Lastivka earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio Northern in sport management in 2015, she later earned a master’s degree from Ohio University and an MBA from Tiffin University.
