Abilene Christian head women’s basketball coach Julie Goodenough today announced the addition of Erik DeRoo to the 2016-17 Wildcat coaching staff. DeRoo comes to the Big Country following two winning seasons with the women’s basketball program at Fresno State.
The Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the WNIT the past two seasons and posted consecutive top-three showings within the Mountain West Conference. Fresno State was 23-10 overall and placed third in its league in 2014-16 and were second in the Mountain West last season, going 22-12 overall and 15-3 vs. the conference.
DeRoo’s responsibilities on head coach Jamie White’s staff included planning team travel and camps, overseeing video exchanges, maintaining the recruiting database and maintaining the team budget. With the Wildcats DeRoo will continue to play a major role in recruiting and travel while also developing point guards, coordinating the male scout team and administering the team’s social media accounts.
“I am thrilled to add coach DeRoo to our staff,” said Goodenough, who is entering her fifth season with the Wildcats. “He gained invaluable experience as a graduate assistant coach at Fresno State, and I believe he will be a great ambassador for our program and for ACU with his positive demeanor, excellent interpersonal skills, and strong faith.”
A native Texan, DeRoo considers his new position to be a dream job.
“I am honored to get to work for a great person in coach Goodenough at ACU … and work for a high-level program that is coming off a Southland Conference championship,” he said. “Before the position opened up I had it pinned as my top dream school, as I had been following the team throughout the season and knew this would be an amazing opportunity to be a part of writing history with the transition to D1.
“Coach Goodenough has one of the greatest reputations throughout the sport, so I knew she would help me grow in my own career. What she has done with this program so far is simply amazing and I wanted to be a part of a program that won championships the right way. ACU offers that opportunity. I’m very strong in my Christian faith and the culture that this campus brings beyond athletics makes it a very special place to work and a unique experience for any potential student-athlete.”
Prior to taking on this role at Fresno State, DeRoo played at the University of Texas at Tyler from 2010-12 and continued his basketball career at McPherson College from 2012-14 where he had the opportunity to play for the 2012 Kansas Coach of the Year Tim Swartzendruber. DeRoo helped lead his team to the KCAC Tournament Championship in 2013 and was named to the ASC Academic All-Conference Team in 2012 and was a NAIA and KCAC Scholar-Athlete his senior year.
DeRoo received his bachelors degree in health and physical education in 2014 and earned his masters in kinesiology with an emphasis on sports psychology in 2016.
“With the tradition that has already been built, I expect the Wildcats to continue competing for Southland Conference Championships,” added DeRoo, “and once our athletics department becomes fully eligible for postseason, I would hope we can achieve a NCAA Tournament bid.”
http://www.acusports.com/news/2016/7/2/deroo-joins-womens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx
Photo Courtesy ACU Athletics
Tagged with: Abilene Christian Erik DeRoo Southland Conference
