Search

Illinois State University

Illinois State University Athletics
Campus Box 2660 College at Delaine Normal, IL 617902660
Division 1 Illinois Midwest
Public Large National competitor

Coaches

EmailButton

Raleigh DeRose

Raleigh DeRose as the Illinois State new head soccer coach in December of 2023.


DeRose recently finished her eighth season with the Brown soccer staff and third as an associate head coach during the 2023-24 season. During her time with the program, the Bears won three Ivy League championships, competed in four NCAA Tournaments, had four undefeated regular seasons, and finished in the top 50 in the national RPI rankings for four-consecutive years. She was also selected to the 30 Under 30 Program by the United Soccer Coaches for the 2016-17 course year.


DeRose and the Brown coaching staff were named the 2023 East Region Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches following a vote of the region's coaches. The staff led the Bears to a 12-3-2 record, including a perfect 7-0-0 mark in the conference and won the Ivy League regular season championship for the fourth-straight year. The Bears advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history and hosted as a No. 3 seed, where they took down Quinnipiac in the first round at Stevenson-Pincince Field.


Brown was consistently ranked in the NCAA RPI throughout the 2023 regular season, topping out at No. 5 in late October. Eight members of the team were awarded with All-Ivy recognition, including three-time Offensive Player of the Year Brittany Raphino, who was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Award and was named an All-American for the third time.


In 2022, DeRose and the Bears secured a 1-0 win at Rutgers in the NCAA Tournament to cap off a season that also included the program's third-straight Ivy League championship after posting a 5-0-1 record in league action. She helped lead the Bears to their second straight Ivy League title in 2021, a season that also saw the team finish with a 7-0 Ivy League record for the first time since the league expanded to eight teams in 1991. The campaign saw Raphino named a Second Team All-American and the Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, Kayla Duran named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and the Ivy Defensive Player of the Year, and seven players in total selected to the All-Ivy League teams.


In 2019, she was a key part of the United Soccer Coaches East Region Staff of the Year and helped guide the Bears to a historic season, in which the team won its first Ivy League title and made its first NCAA appearance since 1994. Brown set program records for wins in a season (14), home wins in a season (11), and shutouts in a season (13). The Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after topping Monmouth in a penalty kick shootout, 4-1.


Prior to her stint at Brown, DeRose served as an assistant coach at Knox from 2014-15 helping the Prairie Fire set a single-season school record for wins in 2015 with a 13-5-2 record. Knox made its first appearance in the Midwest Conference tournament in 20 years in 2015, advancing to the championship game for the first time in school history. In 2015, the Prairie Fire ranked among national leaders in Division III in total goals (14th, 68), goals per game (17th, 3.4), total points (17th, 181), and shots on goal per game (14th, 11.8).


A four-year student-athlete at Knox, DeRose captained the Prairie Fire and started 47 of her 52 matches played as a defender. She acted as a SAAC representative for three years and as the organization’s vice president as a senior. A native of Peoria, Illinois, DeRose earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Knox College in 2014 in American Studies with minors in Anthropology, Sociology, and Religious Studies. She holds an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma in addition to an NSCAA National Coaching License, receiving an R1, the highest level of evaluation in the diploma program.


DeRose comes from a soccer family. Her father, Jim, is the winningest head coach in Bradley history and recently announced his retirement after 28 years at the helm of the program. Her brother, J.R., was a standout goalkeeper at Mercer before moving into the coaching ranks at Bradley, North Carolina and Mercer.


She will be joined in Normal by her husband, Phil, and their daughter, Anna. DeRose will be publicly introduced to the Bloomington-Normal community in mid-January, with more information to follow.

show more

Email coach

Aulani Whisler

Aulani Whisler enters her first season as an assistant coach for Illinois State soccer.


Whisler comes to the Redbirds after a one-year stint as the head coach at Chicago State, where she guided the Cougars to the most wins in a single season in program history. She joined the Chicago State staff as an assistant coach in June of 2022 before being named interim head coach one month into her tenure in July of last year.


She also worked previously as a volunteer coach at Valparaiso during the spring of 2022. Prior to joining the Division I ranks, Whisler spent time as an assistant coach at Stanislaus State, where she helped lead the Warriors to an 8-6-4 record and was instrumental in the assembly of a 2022 recruiting class that included a member of California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) All-Tournament Team, and at her alma-mater Cal State East Bay, where she appeared in 69 matches across her four-year playing career from 2015 to 2018.


Whisler also brings experience on the club and pre-professional side. During the summer of 2023, Whisler was an assistant coach for USL W league member Bavarian Soccer Club. In the club scene, Whisler was most recently the head coach for U11 and U19 teams at Mustang Soccer Club. Prior to Mustang Soccer Club. She also spent two years at Livermore Fusion Soccer Club where she was the head coach of U8, U13, U15NPL, and U17NPL teams.


In October of 2021, Whisler was selected to the 2021-22 class of the United Soccer Coaches 30 Under Program, a year-long education and mentorship opportunity designed to support up-and-coming members of the coaching profession who are 30 years of age or younger.


Whisler graduated from Cal State East Bay in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in biology.

show more
The site worked great for the tournaments I used it for. I had many coaches respond to my contacting them. The site helped me develop confidence in getting through the recruiting process.
- Joshua NealWhat are others saying?