ksuJennyP
05-21-2004, 11:12 AM
Hopefully these two can get us past the second round this year! I think we can still do it!
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/colleges/kansas_state_university/8719419.htm
By MECHELLE VOEPEL
The Kansas City Star
Kansas State coach Deb Patterson already had one NCAA champion on her staff in Kamie Ethridge. Now, she's added even more Final Four experience.
Stephanie White and Shelley Jarrard will fill the Wildcats' women's basketball assistant-coach positions opened with the recent departures of Sue Serafini and Kristin Becker.
White currently plays for the WNBA's Indiana Fever in her home state. A 5-foot-9 guard, she led Purdue to the NCAA title in 1999, when she won the Wade Trophy. She has been an assistant coach at Ball State in Indiana the last year.
“It's a tremendous opportunity for me to come there and work,'' White said Thursday. “The Kansas State program epitomizes everything you want with a basketball team. The kind of kids they recruit have the same mentality as I had growing up: to be fundamentally sound, work hard, play together and just enjoy the game.''
Jarrard was a standout on Vanderbilt's 1993 Final Four team, for which Patterson and Ethridge were assistants to Jim Foster. Jarrard, who grew up in Gore, Okla., was on the '93 Midwest Regional all-tournament team and was first-team All-SEC as a senior. She has been an assistant the last 11 years at Utah.
“I respect Deb and Kamie very much,'' Jarrard said. “Utah was my first and only job, and I need to grow more as a person and a coach. They are excellent coaches and people.''
Patterson said, “Shelley was the recruiting coordinator at Utah, and she'll fill that role for us, too.”
The concept of an active WNBA player such as White being a college assistant has become popular. It gives the team a pro talent in practice and provides the WNBA player with an off-season job that helps keep her skills sharp. It also is another edge in recruiting.
“Anytime you're fortunate to have one of the game's best in your program who is still active and involved as a player, your team will grow from that,'' Patterson said. “Stephanie can work in the recruiting process over the summer during her season; so much of what you do in July is phone-oriented.''
When Patterson was at Vandy, that school heavily recruited White, who was a legend in Indiana. She was the 1995 consensus national player of the year as a senior at Seeger High in West Lebanon; her 2,869 career points were then the state record.
After White's freshman season at Purdue, coach Lin Dunn was fired, and several players transferred. White stayed through two more coaches, Nell Fortner and Carolyn Peck, and helped the Boilermakers win the Big Ten's first women's hoops national title.
White played her first WNBA season, 1999, in Charlotte and then spent 2000-2001 with Indiana. She didn't play in 2002 as she recovered from injuries. Last year, she averaged 6.9 points and was the Fever's top perimeter threat before suffering a knee injury in August that ended her season prematurely.
“I'm still not quite 100 percent; my mind wants to do things my body isn't ready for yet. But I'm doing better,'' said White, who'll move to Manhattan, Kan., when the WNBA season ends.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/colleges/kansas_state_university/8719419.htm
By MECHELLE VOEPEL
The Kansas City Star
Kansas State coach Deb Patterson already had one NCAA champion on her staff in Kamie Ethridge. Now, she's added even more Final Four experience.
Stephanie White and Shelley Jarrard will fill the Wildcats' women's basketball assistant-coach positions opened with the recent departures of Sue Serafini and Kristin Becker.
White currently plays for the WNBA's Indiana Fever in her home state. A 5-foot-9 guard, she led Purdue to the NCAA title in 1999, when she won the Wade Trophy. She has been an assistant coach at Ball State in Indiana the last year.
“It's a tremendous opportunity for me to come there and work,'' White said Thursday. “The Kansas State program epitomizes everything you want with a basketball team. The kind of kids they recruit have the same mentality as I had growing up: to be fundamentally sound, work hard, play together and just enjoy the game.''
Jarrard was a standout on Vanderbilt's 1993 Final Four team, for which Patterson and Ethridge were assistants to Jim Foster. Jarrard, who grew up in Gore, Okla., was on the '93 Midwest Regional all-tournament team and was first-team All-SEC as a senior. She has been an assistant the last 11 years at Utah.
“I respect Deb and Kamie very much,'' Jarrard said. “Utah was my first and only job, and I need to grow more as a person and a coach. They are excellent coaches and people.''
Patterson said, “Shelley was the recruiting coordinator at Utah, and she'll fill that role for us, too.”
The concept of an active WNBA player such as White being a college assistant has become popular. It gives the team a pro talent in practice and provides the WNBA player with an off-season job that helps keep her skills sharp. It also is another edge in recruiting.
“Anytime you're fortunate to have one of the game's best in your program who is still active and involved as a player, your team will grow from that,'' Patterson said. “Stephanie can work in the recruiting process over the summer during her season; so much of what you do in July is phone-oriented.''
When Patterson was at Vandy, that school heavily recruited White, who was a legend in Indiana. She was the 1995 consensus national player of the year as a senior at Seeger High in West Lebanon; her 2,869 career points were then the state record.
After White's freshman season at Purdue, coach Lin Dunn was fired, and several players transferred. White stayed through two more coaches, Nell Fortner and Carolyn Peck, and helped the Boilermakers win the Big Ten's first women's hoops national title.
White played her first WNBA season, 1999, in Charlotte and then spent 2000-2001 with Indiana. She didn't play in 2002 as she recovered from injuries. Last year, she averaged 6.9 points and was the Fever's top perimeter threat before suffering a knee injury in August that ended her season prematurely.
“I'm still not quite 100 percent; my mind wants to do things my body isn't ready for yet. But I'm doing better,'' said White, who'll move to Manhattan, Kan., when the WNBA season ends.