UC Irvine women’s basketball head coach Tamara Inoue announced Cecilia Russell-Nava and Krystle Evans as assistant coaches and Amanda Delgado as director of basketball operations for the 2016-17 season.
Inoue welcomes a staff that is energetic and eager to develop the Anteater program in to Big West and national contenders.
“Through the great mentorship that I have received, I know the most important thing to do is to hire a great staff,” Inoue said. “I believe in hiring great leaders first so that my team will always have an option to go to anyone on staff to look up to and to model themselves after.”
Russell-Nava joins Inoue after also serving on the New Mexico State staff. She had two stints with the Aggies, the first from 2007-2011 and again from 2014-16. Russell-Nava spent three seasons at San Jose State before returning to her alma mater. A starting guard for NMSU from 2005-07, the Aggies reached the WAC Tournament championship game her last two seasons. She ranks second in the record books in three-point field goals made in a season (78) and fifth in career three-pointers (172) and she was named to the 2007 WAC All-Tournament team. Russell-Nava graduated in 2007 from New Mexico State with a degree in business marketing and is currently pursuing a master’s degree from NM State in curriculum and instruction.
“I have had the privilege to work alongside Cece the past 2 years and her presence on the floor, ability to recruit and the way the community adores her is invaluable to any team’s success,” Inoue stated. “She is a proven winner and her leadership is contagious.”
Evans moves to Irvine from UC Santa Barbara where she served the Director of Operations for the Gauchos last season. She was previously an assistant coach at Los Angeles Southwest College for four seasons and View Park Preparatory High School for four years. As a player, Evans was prepped at Crenshaw High School (Los Angeles, Calif.) where she was a four-time first team all-league and all-city honoree and named all-state as a senior. Evans earned a scholarship at UCLA, but a career-ending knee injury kept her from playing with the Bruins. She graduated with a B.A. in political science with a United States Government Concentration and Education minor in 2010. Evans is currently working on her master’s in kinesiology from Fresno Pacific University. While at UCLA, Evans pledged Delta Sigma Theta and is now the past Far West Regional representative.
“Krystle was one that I got numerous phone calls about when I got the job.” Inoue reflected. “Her knowledge of Southern California and the connections she has will make an immediate impact here at UCI. Krystle is truly a student of the game and is always going to better herself.”
Inoue also brought Delgado from New Mexico State where she was the Director of Player Development last season. She was a four-year letterwinner at Oregon, finishing her Duck career with 452 points, 131 rebounds, 63 assists and 40 steals. While at Oregon, Delgado played under Paul Westhead, an NBA and WNBA Champion, her first three years and Kelly Graves her senior season. Delgado graduated from the Oregon with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Arts. She was the SAAC Unification chairman her last two years and was an integral member of the O Heroes program.
“Working with Amanda this past year, I saw a maturity and knowledge of the game which is something you can’t teach. She has a great connection with former players and I see that continuing on here at UCI,” Inoue finished.
Inoue is in the process of hiring one more assistant which will be announced at a later date.
http://ucirvinesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/2015-16/releases/20160518k6hedf
Tagged with: DI Inoue Staff
