UALR women’s basketball coach Joe Foley announced the hiring of Steve Wiedower as an assistant coach on his staff.
Wiedower, who coached as an assistant under Foley from 2004 through the 2008-09 season, returns to the Trojans after spending the last six years as the head girls’ coach at Russellville High School.
“It’s great to have Steve back on the staff,” Foley said. “It makes things very easy when you hire someone you already know and already trust, and Steve’s that guy. He’s well known in Arkansas, and he knows what recruiting is all about.”
With Wiedower at the helm, Russellville had tremendous success, going 22-7 in 2011 and 22-9 in 2012. That year, the Cyclones were state runners up, falling to Little Rock Parkview in the Class 6A state championship game.
Wiedower was also able to coach his daughters Kenzie and Kaylee while they were in high school.
“Being back here with Coach Foley is something I had thought about quite a bit even when I was coaching high school,” Wiedower said. “I thought about the good times that we had and watched him build this program and take it to the next level. Coming back to Little Rock is something I really look forward to, and I appreciate the opportunity to be back here with him.”
Wiedower was a fixture on Joe Foley’s staff earlier in the 2000s, serving under Foley from 2004-09. He was instrumental in recruiting Trojan all-time scoring leader Chastity Reed, and he was a part of the team’s first-ever WNIT berths in 2008 and 2009.
Wiedower’s earlier roots were in administration, as he was an assistant principal at Greenbrier Junior High from 1999-2002 and an assistant principal at Pleasant Grove Middle in Texarkana, Texas, from 2002-03 before signing on with the Trojans in 2004.
Prior to his stint in administration, Wiedower was a successful coach at the high school and junior high level, posting a 229-111 at his alma mater Greenbrier High School, Greenbrier Junior High School and Morrilton Junior High School. His teams won five conference and district championships, earning him the 1991 and 1992 5AA North Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Wiedower will be replacing Bobby Brasel on Foley’s staff. Brasel took a job at North Texas earlier this spring.
Fresh off an appearance in the NCAA Second Round in 2015, the UALR women’s basketball team looks to make it five NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons when the 2015-16 season begins in November. Six newcomers have already been signed to play for the Trojans in the fall.
Photo Courtesy UALR Athletics
