Fourth-year head coach Charmin Smith is pleased to announce the addition of Heidi Heintz to her staff for the 2022-23 season. Named to the 2019 WBCA Thirty Under 30, Heintz comes to Cal with a wealth of coaching and playing experience at Division I and professional levels.
“Heidi is the perfect fit for our program needs,” said Smith. “She is an expert at maximizing the abilities of the student-athletes she coaches. She brings a wealth of knowledge of offensive systems and will help this young team continue to grow.”
Heintz joins Bear Territory after spending the last three seasons at Saint Mary’s where she was the assistant coach for head coach Paul Thomas.While in Moraga, Heintz helped lead the Gaels to an impressive turnaround in her three seasons, culminating with a WBI Championship in 2021-22. During SMC’s postseason run the Gaels won six of their last eight, including three straight over three days in Lexington, Kentucky to capture the program’s first postseason championship.
“I am so excited to join the Cal family!” said Heintz. “It’s an honor to work at an institution with the academic excellence and athletic history of this Cal program. Charmin seeks to empower these young women and build a championship program. I can’t wait to support her vision and lead these student-athletes in achieving success on and off the court.”
Prior to her time at SMC, Heintz had a successful stint at UC San Diego. As an assistant coach with the Tritons from 2015-19 UCSD went 107-18, winning the CCAA title all four years while advancing to the NCAA Tournament. In her last year in La Jolla, the Toreros went 30-1 overall and advanced to the NCAA Division II West Regional. Heintz primarily was influential in the development of All-American forwards Farrah Shokoor and Dalayna Sampton, as well as all-conference selection Mikayla Williams
Before her time with the Tritons, Heintz spent a year as the Director of Basketball Operations and Video Coordinator with her alma mater, UC Davis. The season prior, she served as the junior varsity basketball coach at Ballard High School in Seattle while simultaneously coaching an AAU Youth Academy team at Hoopaholics Academy.
An accomplished player before becoming a coach, Heintz played professionally abroad for two seasons in Europe for the ChemCats in Chemnitz, Germany in 2012-13 and the Forssan Alku Club in Finland the year before, in 2011-12.
In college, Heintz played two seasons at UC Davis, where she was a Big West All-Academic, Big West All-Tournament Team member, and a two-time Second Team All-Big West Conference honoree. She began her collegiate career playing at the University of San Francisco for two seasons from 2006-08, where she garnered West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team honors and the team’s Defensive Player of the Year Award as a sophomore.
