University of Colorado head women’s basketball coach JR Payne announced the hiring of Shandrika Lee as an assistant coach on Monday.
Lee joins Colorado after spending two seasons as an assistant on Payne’s staff at Santa Clara University where she played a key role in guiding the Broncos to a 23-9 mark this past winter as they posted their first winning record since 2008. In addition, she helped lead Santa Clara to a pair of second round appearances in the West Coast Conference tournament, highlighted by a semifinals appearance last season after the team finished 13-5 in league play and tied for third in the conference standings.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to be here at the University of Colorado,” said Lee. “When you have the opportunity to work with great people, you have to take that and run with it because it doesn’t happen often. So when you find that, you find family—that is really exciting.”
Lee’s move to Colorado will mark her second time coaching within the Pac-12 Conference. She served as an assistant coach with the University of Oregon women’s basketball program for three seasons prior to her time at Santa Clara.
“It’s an honor to be back in the Pac-12,” Lee added. “Every day and every game is going to be a challenge. I’m looking forward to working with our team and competing against some of the best programs in the country.”
Before her appointment at Oregon, Lee spent two seasons on the east coast as an assistant coach at Army. In her role on the Army staff, she coordinated all recruiting efforts and admissions along with overseeing the development of the team’s perimeter players. She also worked on community outreach and alumni relations.
“We’re thrilled to have Shandrika join our staff,” said Payne. “She is one of the most tenacious recruiters I have ever been around and she’s a great teacher of the game who loves the opportunity to mentor young women, which she really excels in that area. She understands and appreciates the family atmosphere that we want to have within our program and is a part of our family already, so for all of us to be here together is really special for us.”
A native of Moreno Valley, Calif., Lee’s collegiate coaching career began at Cal Poly. In four seasons with the Mustangs, Lee developed the guards, which included two-time first team all-Big West selection Jessica Eggleston and a pair of all-Big West freshman team honorees in Tamara Wells and Ashlee Stewart.
In 2008-09, Lee was a member of the staff that put together Cal Poly’s winningest season as the Mustangs went 21-11 in 32 games. While in San Luis Obispo, Calif., she also led a variety of community outreach programs and fundraising efforts for the team. Lee was the co-director of the Holiday Beach Classic from 2005-09 and directed Cal Poly’s women’s basketball camps.
A 2004 graduate from Pepperdine University, Lee played in 98 games and averaged 12.0 points per game during her impressive career. The four-year letterwinner led the Waves in points (13.4 ppg), assists (3.2 apg) and steals (1.4) as a senior (2003-04) on her way to earning first team all-West Coast Conference honors. In her junior year, she averaged 17.6 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game before her season was cut short with an ACL injury.
As a guard on Pepperdine’s squad, the Waves qualified for two NCAA Tournaments and made a pair of WNIT appearances. Lee led Pepperdine in steals three out of her four years on campus and ranks seventh all-time in program history with 183 steals. She is the school’s 16th-leading scoring, tallying 1,172 career points and she also ranks in the top 10 in a variety of other categories, including third in 3-point field goals (173), third in free throw percentage (.813) and ninth all-time in 3-point field goal percentage (.348).
A two-time WCC All-Academic nominee, Lee graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine. She went on to earn her master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in physical education and sport studies from Cal Poly in 2008.
Prior to coaching at the collegiate level, Lee served as the junior varsity girls’ basketball coach and varsity assistant at Ramona High in Riverside, Calif. She also has experience as a personal basketball trainer, working with professional-bound athletes as well as designing and training women’s basketball lift, strength and speed programs.
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