UC Santa Barbara Director of Athletics Kelly Barsky announced a new addition to the Gaucho community today as Renee Jimenez will become the new head coach for the women’s basketball team.
“It’s with great excitement we welcome Renee as the new head coach of our storied women’s basketball program,” Barsky said. “She is a student-first leader, has strong ties to our Gaucho community, and her programs consistently demonstrate basketball excellence.”
Jimenez has 15 years of head coaching experience under her belt, accumulating a 270-151 record in that time. Most recently, she spent the last eight seasons leading the Cougars of Cal State San Marcos, taking that program to new heights during her tenure. During the 2023-24 season, Jimenez led the Cougars to the NCAA Division II Final Four with an upset over No. 1 Gannon University. CSUSM posted an overall record of 27-7 and a conference record of 18-4, winning the CCAA Regular Season and Tournament titles. Since taking over for the Cougars, Jimenez has been named as the CCAA Coach of the Year three times, led her team to the NCAA Tournament three times, and made it to the CCAA Tournament Championship game three times. She has also coached 42 All-CCAA athletes over these eight seasons, including a D2CCA All-American and CCAA Player of the Year.
Prior to her time with the Cougars, Jimenez spent two seasons at fellow CCAA institution Cal State San Bernardino. During that time, she completely flipped the script for the Coyotes. She went from a 9-16 record to a 19-9 record, setting up CSUSB for success before her departure. She began her head coaching career at Cal State Monterey Bay. During her five seasons with the Otters, she revolutionized the program, creating a winning team after just one season. She won a CCAA Regular Season and Tournament Championship while earning three NCAA Tournament bids. She also earned her first CCAA Coach of the Year accolade in her third season at Monterey Bay.
Prior to beginning her head coaching career, Jimenez spent three seasons as an assistant coach at San Diego State, being part of the Aztecs’ rebuild. San Diego State went from 4-25 to 18-13 during her three seasons as an assistant with the program. Her very first position came as a video coordinator at Stanford University under legendary coach Tara VanDerveer.
Jimenez is no stranger to the Central Coast. She grew up in Ventura, making the drive up the 101 to attend UC Santa Barbara Women’s Basketball games and camps from a young age. Now, she will be back in The Thunderdome taking over the reins of this program.
https://ucsbgauchos.com/news/2024/4/17/renee-jimenez-hired-as-new-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
Tagged with: UCSB
