The Oregon women introduced two new assistant coaches today as the Ducks took to McArthur Court for their final one-hour team practice of the spring under new head coach Paul Westhead.
Former Marist assistant Keila Whittington and former USC assistant Kai Felton conducted practice with Westhead in Whittington’s second day on the job and Felton’s first. Tuesday’s practice marked the last instance this spring in which team practices could be conducted, as determined by the NCAA. Westhead and his new coaches will have access to the players for individual workouts two hours per week.
Whittington, who is expected to be Westhead’s primary recruiting coordinator and coach of the Oregon posts, spent two years with the Red Foxes, who went 61-7 during that time span and made two NCAA Tournament appearances, with two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles. Whittington helped Marist land the 50th-best recruiting class in the nation, according to Blue Star Basketball – the school’s first-ever women’s basketball recruiting ranking. Prior to her stint at Marist, Whittington served as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Rhode Island (1993-95), Indiana (1995-2000), South Alabama (2000-01) and Penn State (2001-07). The All-Star Girls’ Report ranked Penn State’s 2003 recruiting class 13th in the nation. Westhead met Whittington at the NCAA Women’s Final Four, and she spent Easter Sunday with her family as she decided to accept the position.
“I guess I would say it’s probably been a whirlwind. It’s been a pretty exciting experience. I’m happy to be here and happy to be a part of Oregon basketball,” Whittington said. “I believed in what he was saying, what he was offering, what he wants to do, and I want to be a part of it.”
Working at a Pacific-10 Conference school for a coach of Westhead’s pedigree – an NBA championship, a WNBA championship and five men’s NCAA Tournament appearances – appealed to Whittington so much that she accepted the job offer without visiting the campus. She now turns her attention toward recruitment strategy.
“We wanted to take this time to see what we have, and get a feel for if we need a couple pieces from the 2009 class or if we move straight ahead to 2010,” she said.
“We will go wherever we can on the West Coast as well as nationwide to get the best (players) that we can.”
Whittington spoke enthusiastically of the talent level of high school girls in the Pacific Northwest and California and advocated for increased attention toward Oregon and Washington players. Oregon has one recruit for the 2009 class signed to a letter of intent, guard Aliyah Green of Portland; she would be the only native Oregonian on the roster.
“One of the first things that I told Coach Westhead was that that can’t happen,” Whittington said. “You don’t let the best kids get out of your state, so you have to give them a product that makes them want to be here, want to be a part of it, and want to represent their state of Oregon.”
Felton’s acceptance of an Oregon assistant coaching job comes on the heels of Mark Trakh’s resignation last week as head coach of the Women of Troy. Felton primarily worked with USC’s guards, including standouts Camille LeNoir and Briana Gilbreath, the Pac-10’s reigning Freshman of the Year. She helped recruit seven McDonald’s All-Americans in her five years with USC.
Felton held down a side job as a scout for the WNBA’s New York Liberty concurrent to her duties with the Women of Troy, and she was connected to Westhead through the Liberty.
“His reputation pretty much speaks volumes, both professionally and at the college level,” Felton said. “I just think this was a great opportunity, and I’m looking forward to recruiting players to be Ducks here at Oregon.”
Part of Felton’s duties with the Trojans involved advance scouting the Ducks, giving her an added familiarity to the players’ games.
“I think that this is a talented team. They’re going to be a lot of fun to watch, especially in Coach Westhead’s system,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Westhead would not place a timetable on hiring a third and final assistant, although he ruled out Phoenix Mercury head coach Corey Gaines, who succeeded him in Phoenix and played under him at Loyola Marymount. Westhead cited concerns over dual roles – Gaines would retain his head coaching job with the Mercury if signed on – as cause for his elimination in the search.
Contract details released
The Register-Guard released the details of Westhead’s contract yesterday, and one provision has caught some eyes: Westhead, whose primary residence is in Southern California, is required to live in the Eugene area for only seven months out of the year, raising questions as to consistent availability for his players, the athletic department and the media.
“I think, during the recruiting time, I’ll be out and as active as any other NCAA coach,” Westhead said. “If I felt the need when there was downtime (to return home), then I would take advantage of it.”
Manou to miss term
Forward Ellie Manou has returned to Australia under an NCAA rule known as the “missed term exception,” a one-time provision that allows an otherwise eligible player to miss a term of college. Westhead has not placed a timetable on a decision for Manou to return to the team, transfer to another school or join a professional club in Australia.
“We support her no matter what she chooses,” center Nicole Canepa said of Manou. “We haven’t really talked about (whether she’ll return).”
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