Casey Bunn has been hired as new women’s basketball coach at Linfield College, director of athletics Scott Carnahan announced Monday.
Bunn brings a colorful mixture of playing and coaching experience to her new position. Those experiences include an array of accomplishments ranging from high school, major college and international professional leagues to amateur skills development.
Most recently, she spent three seasons as girls basketball coach at Tualatin High School, compiling a 39-32 win-loss record while leading the Timberwolves to three straight OSAA Class 6A state playoff appearances. Prior to Tualatin, she spent two seasons as an assistant girls basketball coach at Lake Oswego High School.
At Oregon State University, Bunn led the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring as a senior in 2007, averaging 20.0 points per game. That season, she averaged 37.9 minutes, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. Appearing in 122 games with 70 starting assignments, Bunn concluded her career with 1,163 points, ninth-most in Beavers history and her 679 career rebounds rank seventh all-time. She graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health Promotion and Education.
A star athlete at Stayton High School, Bunn earned varsity letters in basketball, volleyball, softball and track. On the basketball court, she was a four-time all-state, all-region and all-conference honoree. The Capital Conference Player of the Year for three straight seasons, Bunn led Stayton to the league championship her freshman and junior seasons. She set SHS career records for points (1,831), rebounds (783), assists (342) and steals (306) and went on to represent Stayton in the Oregon Class 3A All-Star game following graduation.
Bunn played professionally in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Australia. While competing overseas, Bunn earned all-league honors on the Portuguese All-Star team.
She is co-founder and director of the Jr. Energy youth basketball program, a skills development program geared toward girls in grades 4-12 throughout the Portland area. In its fifth year, Jr. Energy’s mission is to introduce young female athletes to an advanced level of coaching and competition that takes their basketball skills to a higher level.
“I’m very excited to be joining the Linfield staff and leading the women’s basketball program,” said Bunn. “McMinnville is a great community and Linfield is an outstanding college. I’m excited about coaching at the NCAA Division III level, where student-athletes are students first, yet enjoy a first-rate experience competing in athletics.”
Bunn replaces Robin Potera-Haskins, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities after five seasons. The Wildcats are coming off a 12-13 campaign and a fifth-place finish in the powerful Northwest Conference. Three NWC women’s basketball teams qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division III playoffs. In total, NWC teams have reached the national championship game four times over the last seven years, including the last two.
“The Northwest Conference is one of the very best in the nation. Players come into our program knowing they will be competing against great opposition every night,” said Bunn. “Many of the sports at Linfield already compete at a high-caliber level and the women’s basketball program has the opportunity to do the same. Our approach should be ‘Why not us?’”
Bunn intends to provide a fun and balanced environment in which her players can thrive.
“Linfield in particular creates an amazing opportunity for student-athletes to gain a great education,” she said. “I want to come in and create a positive atmosphere on the basketball court and get people excited about Linfield women’s basketball.”
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/release.html?id=5884&sport=wbkb
Photo courtesy of Linfield Athletics
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