Central Arkansas women’s basketball head coach Sandra Rushing has bolstered her coaching staff with the hiring of Rusty Laverentz from the University of Houston, bringing coveted Division I experience and nearly two decades of involvement in college basketball to the Sugar Bears bench.

Laverentz comes to Central Arkansas after three seasons at Houston, where he served as the Director of Operations under head coach Todd Buchanan. In the three years prior, he was an assistant to Buchanan at Houston Baptist during the Huskies’ Division I transition.

"I’m excited to to be getting back into the coaching side after spending the last few seasons on the administrative side," said Laverentz, who also has seven total years of experience as both a head coach and assistant at New Mexico Junior College, along with a three-year stint as a graduate assistant at Arkansas State. "I really missed coaching. Coach Buchanan, who I was with for six years and learned a lot from, understood that I missed the coaching aspect – he even stopped me recently and asked me ‘you miss coaching, don’t you?’ and told me to get back in it while I can.

"I felt like this was a tremendous opportunity to get back on the bench," Laverentz said. "After talking with Coach Rushing, meeting Dr. [Brad] Teague (Central Arkansas’ Director of Athletics), seeing the way the administration supports the program and getting to see the campus, it was a no-brainer. Coach Rushing has a tradition of winning, and it’s an honor to work with her and help her get Central Arkansas back to the top of the Southland Conference, where it deserves to be."

Rushing adds a veteran voice to the staff in Laverentz, giving more Division I seasoning to a staff that also includes assistant coach Shameka Russell and graduate assistant Destinee Rogers, who both gained their first year of coaching experience last season.

"It’s vital to have experience in Division I basketball," Rushing said. "He’s been in Division I, brings a lot of experience, has been a head coach, is a proven recruiter and is very knowledgeable. And having been on the operations side, he is very organized. I’m excited to have him on board. He’s very personable, and we’ve talked a lot about Xs and Os, and he’s very defensive-minded like myself and will be a great fit here."

Laverentz earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Missouri Western State, where he was a four-year letterman in baseball while also serving as a student assistant with the women’s basketball program. He then went on to earn his master’s in physical education at Arkansas State, spending three years on staff as a graduate assistant.

"I’ve been in Arkansas before, and that was part of the draw for me," he said. "I’m originally from Kansas City, so I’m closer to home, and right in the middle of there and a lot of the people I know in Texas. It’s a great location, the campus is beautiful, you see the facilities upgrades that have gone on in the last few years and you can see this is a place definitely going in the right direction. I knew pretty quickly I wanted to be a part of it."

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