Coe College Director of Athletics John Chandler has announced the resignation of women’s basketball head coach Nate Oakland. In a related move, assistant coach Kayla Waskow has been named the head coach of the program.
Oakland has been named an assistant coach at an NCAA Division I school. Oakland is the second-straight Kohawk head coach to leave for an assistant position at the NCAA Division I level, as Randi (Peterson) Henderson left to be an assistant coach at Charlotte following the 2014-15 campaign.
In two years at the helm of the Kohawks, Oakland led Coe to a 27-26 overall record. The Kohawks advanced to the IIAC Tournament in both years, reaching the semifinals in 2016. The two years as head coach was the second stint with the program for Oakland, as he also served as an assistant coach under former head coach Henderson from 2009-11.
One of the most decorated players in Coe history, Waskow becomes the ninth head coach in program history since Coe joined the NCAA ranks in 1978. Waskow has been an assistant for the Kohawks the last two years after spending two years after graduating from Coe as a graduate assistant at Aurora University.
A two-year captain, Waskow played on Coe’s first two NCAA Tournament teams. Coe advanced to at least the second round in both appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2011. Waskow was a four-time All-Iowa Conference First Team selection, while also being named the Iowa Conference MVP in 2011-12. She is the only Kohawk in school history to have earned MVP honors in women’s basketball.
Waskow owns eight school records and is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,583 points. She owned 17 school records when she played her final game in 2013. Her 20 rebounds against Buena Vista on Jan. 14, 2012 stand as a program record, while she also scored a career-high 28 points in the same game. Waskow also owns the school record for games played with 118, while she is one of two players in school history to start 90 or more games.
The Kohawks open the season Nov. 15 against Iowa Wesleyan at the new Coe Performance Arena. Coe returns four starters from the 2016-17 team, including All-Iowa Conference performers Aleena Hobbs (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington) and Jenna Lehman (Iowa City, Iowa/Regina).
Photo Courtesy Coe College Athletics
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