CONFIDENCE GAME OLIVIER TO KEEP JOB AS UCLA COACH BECAUSE OF `CHARACTER'.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer Maybe it's not all about victories and losses at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , as the firing of winning football coach Bob Toledo Bob Toledo (born March 4, 1946, in San Jose, California) is an American football coach, recently hired as head coach at Tulane University. He is best-known as the thirteenth head coach at UCLA. suggested in the fall. UCLA women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. coach Kathy Olivier apparently has saved her job with her team in position to reach the postseason for the first time since 2000 and a second top-tier recruiting class on the way for next season. The Bruins, 17-10 this year, were a combined 15-43 the previous two seasons after making an Elite Eight appearance in 1999. But her boss, senior women's administrator Betsy Stephenson, said Olivier's job never was in jeopardy. ``When (athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Dan Guerrero) was hired, he talked about image and substance,'' Stephenson said. ``... The last two years we've struggled, I've seen the inner core of Kathy Olivier, and she wants to win more than anyone else associated with her program. ``To get the wins she got with the kids she had (the past two seasons), and keep recruiting the type of classes she has this year and the next, that just shows the type of coach Kathy is, the type of character she has, and that the program is getting back on track. ``That's why Kathy will be back next season.'' Apparently then, character counts. Stephenson said Olivier showed hers while surviving a ``perfect storm'' of events that began when the Bruins finished as the last-minute runner-up to Connecticut in the Diane Tarausi recruiting sweepstakes in 1999. That year, UCLA made its first Elite Eight appearance with All-Pacific-10 Conference players Maylana Martin Maylana Lynn Martin (born April 17, 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American former professional women's basketball player and currently a collegiate coach. Although born in Hawaii, she grew up in Southern California. , Erica Gomez, Marie Philman and LaCresha Flannigan. But they were all juniors, and Olivier needed at least two top recruits to play understudies as freshmen and replace them as sophomores. Olivier went after the top talent in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - Tarausi from Don Lugo High in Chino Chino (chē`nō), city (1990 pop. 59,682), San Bernardino co., S Calif.; founded 1887, inc. 1910. It is the business and processing center of a diversified farming (notably dairying) area. and Ebony Hoffman Ebony Vernice Hoffman (born August 27, 1982 in Los Angeles, California) is a professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected as the ninth overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft. from Narbonne of Harbor City - and finished as runner-up for both. Instead, the Bruins ended up with three junior-college transfers, none of whom averaged more than 6.3 points a game during their careers. Add that to the unexpected transfers of first-team all-conference freshman Nicole Kaczmarski, who left because of homesickness after her freshman year, and forward Melanie Pearson Melanie Pearson (previously Mangel) was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Lucinda Cowden. She first appeared in 1987, then in 1988 and became a regular on the series in 1989 up until the character's departure in 1991. , who went on a Mormon mission after the 1999 season and then transferred to Brigham Young for her senior year. By 2001, junior Michelle Greco was the only key piece left from the Elite Eight team of '99. Greco, from Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. High in La Crescenta, led the conference in scoring at 19.9 points a game but had little help from her supporting cast. The next year, Greco was forced to redshirt on the recommendation of the UCLA medical staff because of a history of mild concussions. But even as the setbacks mounted, Olivier remained positive, kept recruiting and tried to get the most out of her players. ``I've had two years where we struggled, but because of the players and because of the how they've responded, we stayed very positive during that time,'' Olivier said. ``But it was hard, really hard ... and I think you saw their true character. And now, I think everyone sees that we're back on track, and it's a really good feeling.'' This season, the Bruins were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-10 but led the conference with a 7-0 start despite losing freshman forward Julia Pitts, their top rebounder and post player, to a season-ending knee injury in mid-January. They are in fourth place entering tonight's conference tournament. With 18 victories, the Bruins are a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
Greco has returned from her injuries to lead the conference in scoring again at 19.3 points a game. She has teamed well with freshman point guard Nikki Blue, a McDonald's All-American last season who was named first-team all-conference this week. The Bruins will graduate five seniors, including Greco, this season, and they will be replaced by top recruits Noelle Quinn, a 6-foot guard regarded by several publications as one of the top 10 players in the country; 6-1 forward Amanda Livingston; and 6-4 center Consuelo Lezcano. Then, UCLA's confidence in Olivier could pay off. ``Honestly, I put pressure on myself because I always want to win, and I didn't like it because I knew that other people were suffering from it,'' Olivier said. ``... A big thing being at UCLA is that you're just super-proud to be here, it's just a pride thing, and you better kick some butt and if you don't, then you shouldn't be here.'' OLIVIER FILE Year: 10th season Record: 147-138 overall, 17-10 this season. See for yourself: 7:15 tonight, HP Pavilion in San Jose, where the fourth-seeded Bruins take on fifth-seed Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: UCLA women's basketball coach Kathy Olivier, right, has the Bruins looking up. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer Box: OLIVIER FILE (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion