In March 2009, Kai Felton was looking for a job.
The former USC assistant was in limbo after Mark Trakh, head coach of USC, resigned following the season. Felton had a number of options to mull over. Head coaching positions at the Division III level were available to her, and a position with the WNBA’s New York Liberty was a possibility.
But when Oregon removed its entire coaching staff following the dismissal of program legend Bev Smith last season and hired NBA and WNBA champion Paul Westhead as head coach, Felton saw an opportunity in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“I wanted to stay in Division I,” the 31-year-old Felton said. “I was curious about becoming a head coach, but I wanted to stay on the West Coast and in the Pac-10. Of course with Westhead, that would be an awesome experience. I was able to get his number and send him information.”
Felton called Westhead and arranged to meet at the women’s basketball Final Four in St. Louis. Their discussions of coaching philosophy and recruiting turned into a job offer and an official hire on April 14.
“After she left (St. Louis), I said to myself, ‘I’m going to hire her,’” Westhead said. “I just got a sense that this would be a good person for us.”
Though Westhead had never coached women’s college basketball, Felton had no reservations about the impact he could have.
“I watched his press conference online, (where) he said, ‘I’ve got 11 grandkids and they all call me Goose,’” Felton said with a laugh. “I knew he would be relatable to the student-athletes. He’s very laid-back, very calm. He knows what he’s talking about.”
The feelings are certainly mutual.
“She’s quick. She’s very assertive. She tells you exactly what’s on her mind,” Westhead said.
Felton, a native of Pasadena, Calif., used her quickness — mental and physical — to carve out a standout career (1997-2000) at Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Va. She became the school’s third-highest scorer of all time with 1,147 points and set nine school records, including career three-pointers (216) and career assists (325).
A biology major with medical-school aspirations, Felton picked up on a love of coaching early on. She entered a Master’s program at Division III Springfield (Mass.) College while serving as a women’s basketball graduate assistant and coaching the school’s JV team.
“It was a fantastic opportunity,” Felton said. “You’re a head coach, calling shots, running practice, driving the team van, making the schedule.”
Felton graduated with a Master’s degree in athletic administration from Springfield College in 2002 and spent a year under Paul Thomas at Cal Poly Pomona. The following year, she became an assistant coach under Trakh at Pepperdine.
The Waves went 17-12 and made the Women’s National Invitational Tournament that season, and when Trakh left to coach USC in 2004, Felton followed him.
“He’s the greatest guy,” she said of Trakh. “He loves the game, he’s passionate, he’s always honest, his X’s and O’s are fantastic. He’s known nationally for his success at all levels. He took Pepperdine from dead last to the top team (in the West Coast Conference).”
Felton was especially active for the Women of Troy in recruiting, landing commitments from seven McDonald’s All-Americans. The thrill of recruiting, according to Felton, runs concurrent with her expressed role as a coach to “be a mentor and empower young women” under her instruction.
“You have to be genuine. You don’t want to be that car salesman. I don’t think that’s necessarily what the student-athlete is looking for,” she said. “They want to be able to relate to the people they’ll spend the next four years of their life with. Once you start that relationship, every time you talk you build on it, just get to know them better. If you just call a kid blind and just start spilling information, they’re not going to truly listen. You’ve got to get them invested.”
In her first year with the Ducks, Felton has successfully recruited the existing Oregon players to her lessons and her ideals.
“She’s fantastic,” guard Micaela Cocks said. “She does a great job of interacting with the guards one-on-one and coming up to us and saying what we need to work on, and really encouraging us once we do.”
Felton’s first task for the senior from New Zealand was improvement on her mid-range jump shot, a must-have under Westhead’s “four seconds or less” guideline for putting up shots in the fast-break offense.
Cocks has responded well — her field goal percentage has increased from 38.7 percent last season to 44.6 percent this season.
“Once you do it, she’s really good at positive reinforcement as well,” Cocks said.
The Ducks have already improved upon their win total from 2008-09, and they lead the nation in scoring offense (87.0 points per game). Felton is summarily impressed with the progress she sees.
“We are building confidence in the girls, in themselves and in the program,” she said. “They’re hungry to learn, they’re hungry to improve and they’re hungry to win.”
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