The University of Illinois Springfield softball program announced today that Ashli King is a new assistant coach for the Prairie Stars. King is a former star player for UIS and most recently was an assistant coach at GLVC rival Lindenwood University.
 
"I am very excited to be back home on the Prairie, and bringing my story full circle," said King. "I look forward to giving back to the program that I was once a part of.​"
 
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Ashli King back to UIS," said head coach Shannon Guthrie. "Ashli had a great career as a catcher here, and has spent the last five years gaining invaluable coaching experience. She is extremely passionate about UIS, and will help give our student-athletes a very positive experience. Ashli has shown her ability to succeed at a high level as both a coach and a player in the GLVC. Her main responsibilities will be working with our hitters on a daily basis, and she will also help with catchers. We are so happy to have her back and working with our team."

King was a member of the UIS program as a player from 2015-16. She was named all-conference in 2015 after one of the top offensive seasons in program history, including a .600 slugging percentage and .468 on-base percentage. She finished her career with a .320 batting average, .531 slugging percentage, and a .435 on-base percentage. She had 43 runs, 51 RBI, 17 doubles, and 13 home runs in 102 games.
 
King started her college coaching career at Western Illinois University for the 2017-18 seasons. King helped that program win six more games that the previous year in her first year, and the Leathernecks won 39 contests in her two seasons in Macomb.
 
From 2019-2021, King was an assistant coach at Lindenwood University. The Lions won 63 games in that span and had a .635 winning percentage. Last year's team advanced to the GLVC Tournament in its first full season in the league.
 
At Lindenwood, King worked primarily with the catchers and outfielders. She helped coached seven all-conference players, and one second-team all-region performer.
 
Other coaching experience for King includes being the co-head coach at Sauk Valley Community College in the fall of 2018, and coaching the Quad City Extreme Havoc 18U and the Sauk Valley Lady Sharks 12U summer teams while in college.
 
King earned her Bachelor of Communication degree from UIS in 2016, and earned a Master of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration from Western Illinois in 2018. King is originally from Sterling, Ill. and attended Sterling High School.