Monroe University Bronx

Damel Ling was tabbed as head coach of the Express women's basketball team in July of 2023. Ling brings to Monroe over 20 years of coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels. 

In Ling's first season at Monroe, the Express captured the Region 15 and Northeast District Championships. They defeated three nationally ranked teams in the process, including No. 12 Rowan College South Jersey Gloucester County in the consolation game of the NJCAA Tournament. Ling was selected as the Northeast District Coach of the Year. He coached and mentored Daysiah Smith, who set several program single-season and career records and earned a spot on both the NJCAA All-America third team and the All-Region 15 first team. She was also honored as the NJCAA Division III Player of the Week and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Region 15 Championships.

In the 2024-25 season, Ling led the Express to their second consecutive appearance in the Region 15 Championship Game. His mentorship helped Beverly Williams land on the All-Region first team. He mentored Winter Smith and Makira Bunsie who both earned NJCAA Division III Player of the Week honors. Bunsie was selected to the All-Region second team. The women's basketball program earned the Team Academic Award at the Monroe - Bronx Athletics Department's Awards Dinner for tying the highest team GPA out of all the Express teams during the Winter 2025 Semester. Three student-athletes were recognized as NJCAA All-Academic honorees, including two on the second team. Five earned spots on the Region 15 All-Academic team and two were selected to the Eastern Athletic Communications Association Academic Honor Roll.       

No stranger to NJCAA Region 15, Ling was head coach of the Borough of Manhattan Community College women's basketball program during the 2022-23 season. He led the Panthers to a 6-4 record in CUNY Athletic Conference play and a berth in the CUNYAC Championship game. He coached and mentored Emily Kennedy who earned NJCAA National Player of the Week honors. He also guided Demaris Andrews who was named the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year. 

Prior to BMCC, Ling was the assistant coach of NCAA Division II's Nyack College women's basketball program during the 2021-22 academic year. While at Nyack, he oversaw the day-to-day operations for the program as he produced practice and strategic game plans, developed scouting reports, and created skill development plans for post and perimeter players.   

Ling spent the previous two seasons (2019-2021) as an assistant women's basketball coach at NCAA Division II's Caldwell College. While there, he called out all the offensive plays and worked primarily with the post players. 

In the 2015-16 academic year, Ling served as head men's basketball coach at Union County College. He started his overall coaching career at Centenary College during the 1999-00 season. At both institutions, not only did he help lead the student-athletes on the court, but he also supervised community service projects.  

In addition to coaching at the collegiate level, Ling had a highly successful career as a high school basketball coach. During his time as the head girls basketball coach at The Patrick School (2016-2019) he propelled the Celtics to 63 victories in three seasons while leading them to a single-season record of 27 wins in 2016-17. Ling captured three Watchung Division Titles and two County Championships in 2017 and 2019 during his tenure, while his teams also advanced to the Union County Tournament Championship game during all three seasons. He produced 16 scholarship student-athletes and sent 22 student-athletes to the collegiate level. 
  
Ling had an earlier tenure at The Patrick School, serving as the associate head boys basketball coach from 2011 until 2015. He led the program to back-to-back county titles in 2013 and 2014, while developing future Division I and professional players. 
  
Prior to his first stint at The Patrick School, Ling was the head coach of the Marist High School girls basketball program from 2009 until 2011, and the head boys basketball coach of Hudson Catholic from 2007 until 2009. During his time at the helm in the highly competitive Hudson County Interscholastic League, his girls program at Marist finished as one of the top defensive teams in the county both seasons, and his boys program at Hudson Catholic finished the 2007-08 campaign as one of the top three defensive teams in the county. 

Ling was mentored by New Jersey high school basketball coaching legend and Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley Sr. Under Hurley Sr's tutelage, Ling was an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity boys coach at St. Anthony's from 2003-07. As a varsity assistant, he was a part of a Friars squad that went 28-1 and finished ranked No. 7 in the country, during the 2006-07 season. That same year, he developed seven players who earned NCAA Division I scholarships. During the 2003-04 campaign, he was on a coaching staff that led the Friars to an undefeated season and a state championship. St. Anthony's also finished the season second in the country and claimed the High School National Championship. 
  
As the Friars junior varsity head coach, he compiled an 87-7 overall record and won four Christmas Tournament Titles. 

Ling also made a County Final appearance in 2001 as an assistant coach at Marist High School, where he coached from 2000 to 2003 to start his high school coaching career. 

A native of Jersey City, Ling earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Wheaton College in 1999. While at Wheaton, he played on the men's basketball team for four years and was a captain during his senior year. In the first season of his collegiate basketball playing career, Ling was selected to the New England All-Rookie team in 1996. 

Ling is married to Latoya Grimes-Ling and has two daughters, Dominique and Kimora.