Katie Pate is in her first year as the Director of Marketing and Promotions at USC Upstate.

Pate came to Upstate from Belmont Abbey where she served as the head coach of the women's basketball team and the athletic department's Senior Woman Administrator from 2005-07.

Pate is no stranger to the Spartanburg community or USC Upstate. She served as the assistant women's basketball coach at Upstate from 1999-2001. While at the University, she coordinated the summer girl's basketball camp and the fundraising efforts of the program through the Fast Break Club.

Pate's entire professional career has revolved around athletics. She began her career as an intern in the athletic department at Coker College in 1997 and became an assistant coach with the women's basketball program in 1998. She also assumed the responsibilities of coordinating the student employment efforts of the college. She left Coker to come to Upstate in 1999.

Pate left Upstate to return to Coker as the head coach of the women's basketball team in 2001 and led the Cobras to a single-season school record 19 wins in 2003-04. In addition to her coaching duties, she also worked in an administrative capacity as the Senior Woman Administrator during her stint at the institution. She left Coker in 2005 to take the head coaching position at Belmont Abbey where she also served in the athletic administration as the Senior Woman Administrator.

Throughout her stints as Senior Woman Administrator at Coker and Belmont Abbey, Pate was instrumental in the strategic planning of the athletic department at both institutions. She helped coordinate the marketing and promotions efforts of athletics at Coker and Belmont Abbey and helped organize and run conference tournaments hosted at both institutions.

Pate graduated from Coker in 1997 with bachelor degrees in Exercise Science and Spanish. While at Coker, she was a standout on the women's basketball team. She received a master's degree in Business Administration from Webster University in 2004.

Pate and her husband, Tully, were married in 1999 and currently live in Belmont, N.C.