Cayla Petree has been named the ninth women’s basketball coach in Angelo State history announced by athletic director Sean Johnson.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this new era of Angelo State women’s basketball,” Petree said. “This program has a very high ceiling with one of the best facilities in the country, a great university and incredible support from the administration. This is a great place to do something really special. I can’t wait to get to work and build something great.”
Petree comes to Angelo State after a one-year stint as assistant coach at North Texas. She coached point and shooting guards and was able to sign ESPN top 100 recruit Candice Adams. Petree guided freshman guard Loryn Goodwin to the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honor and a selection on the all-conference team.
“Cayla’s passion, enthusiasm and commitment make her the ideal candidate to be our next head coach,” Johnson said. “I am confident that she will make a tremendous impact on our current student-athletes and those to come. Her spirit is infectious and that will inspire our team, our fans and our entire community.”
Prior to UNT she spent five years (2007-2012) rebuilding Cisco Junior College’s program, a team that was 0-60 in the three years prior to her arrival, into a perennial playoff-contender. Petree led the Wranglers to three Region V Tournament appearances from 2010-2012 after a seven-year absence as well as three straight 20-win seasons. She was 93-61 at Cisco, including a 66-28 mark her final three seasons. Petree coached 14 student-athletes to all-conference honors and 16 student-athletes continued playing at four-year colleges.
Some of Petree’s former Cisco players include this year’s Great American Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Rose Silva who led Arkansas Tech to the league’s regular season and tournament titles and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. She set the school and league single season (149) and career (275) records for steals. Kim Haynes went on to be a two-year starter at Division I Tennessee State (2010-12), Synthea Read was a two-year starter at West Alabama (2011-13) where she twice broke the single season record for blocked shots. MaKayla Grahn was a two-year starter at Rockhurst University (2011-13) while Chelsea Stamp was a starter at Cameron this season. LaKendra Smith was a two-year starter at Southwest Baptist (2010-12) and led the team in scoring both seasons. Nicole Pendarvis was a two-year starter at Cameron (2010-12) accumulating 268 assists in two seasons and Michelle Gonzalez (2008-10) was a two-year starter at Division I Florida International, leading the team in assists both seasons.
Before Cisco, Petree was an assistant at New Mexico Junior College and in 2006-2007 she worked in the marketing department at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
As a player, Petree played at both Cisco JC and Texas Tech. While at Cisco she was a two-time all-conference selection and conference freshman of the year in 2000-2001. She played for current Tarleton State head coach Ronnie Hearne. She transferred to Tech in 2002-2003 and played for Hall of Famer Marsha Sharp and was a member of the 2003 Elite Eight team.
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