Sherri Murrell spent five years trying to turn Washington State into a winning program.
Last spring, she made a change and returned to her Oregon roots with the Portland State women’s basketball team. She brought with her a healthy dose of Pacific-10 Conference experience when she added Peg Swadener and Chelsea Wagner to her staff.
Swadener and Wagner both were a part of the 2005-06 Oregon women’s basketball team – the former an assistant coach and the latter a player – before leaving the Ducks.
“At Washington State, it was really hard to move up the ladder in the Pac-10. It’s a tough place to recruit,” Murrell said. “It just took too long for me and I’m not a very patient coach and so I just think this (Big Sky) conference is a great conference to be in.”
Swadener spent the last year on the east coast with the Princeton women’s basketball team.
She was on Oregon’s coaching staff for three years under Bev Smith before resigning in spring 2006. Swadener initially thought she’d take a year off, relax and decide what direction she wanted to go with her career.
But during a visit with friends at Princeton, she had the opportunity to join coach Richard Barron’s staff and serve as a volunteer third assistant. The active Swadener, who helped with recruiting at Oregon, focused solely on X and Os.
“It was 99 percent coaching the game of basketball,” Swadener said.
At a glanceSherri Murrell, Peg Swadener and Chelsea Wagner all have ties to the Pacific-10 Conference and are now working together at Portland State. Murrell: She coached at Washington State from 2002 to 2007. The Portland native was an assistant coach at Portland State in the mid-90s. Swadener: The Eugene native was an assistant coach at Oregon from 2003 to 2006. She has also been an assistant coach at Idaho State, Boise State and Princeton. Wagner: She played at Oregon from 2003 to 2006. |
The Eugene native gained an appreciation for the history of the schools with visits to Penn, Harvard, Yale and Columbia.
Barron, whose wife Maureen Barron coached the softball team, left during the offseason to become an assistant coach at Baylor. Swadener had known Murrell through her time at Oregon, so when she heard the former Cougar coach was looking at Portland State, it drew her attention.
“I always had a lot of respect for her,” Swadener said. “I had a chance to talk to her a little bit and see her goals for the program and it worked out really well.”
Swadener had maintained her friendship with Wagner, and knowing the sharpshooting guard was looking into coaching, put her in contact with Murrell and she was soon a part of the staff.
“I really like to use certain positions like the director of basketball operations to help mentor and help encourage young women to get into the coaching profession,” Murrell said. “It works really well.”
Wagner gave handball a try last year and considered playing professional basketball overseas, except her troublesome left knee made the decision to stop playing easier. Her position prevents her from having direct contact with players in practices, but Murrell, who remembers her toughness and three-point shooting, expects her to be a valuable resource for her players.
“She freshly came out of this situation in college and she can give some great advice to our young ladies,” Murrell said. “They can look to her ’cause as much as they look to me I’m 40 years old and its been a while since I played hoops.”
Wagner says she plans to attend the 2008 Final Four in Tampa Bay, Fla., and network.
“It’s just kind of how my brain works,” she said. “I always had dreams of playing in college and playing professionally. The injuries have kind of changed that. I’ve always wanted to be a coach.”
Murrell says negotiations are underway with Oregon to play the Ducks in upcoming seasons. Smith says Oregon plans to honor their traditional rivalry with Portland in upcoming seasons, but if they host a tournament, might invite Portland State to come and participate.
Now that Wagner’s back in the state of Oregon, she’ll be able to watch Duck games for the first time since she donned a uniform.
“It will be different but I also grew up in the stands watching them play so I’m familiar with that as well,” she said.
[email protected]