Creating a comfort zone.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - She has made all the right moves, taking steady and effective steps up the coaching ladder.

But the latest move by LaVonda Wagner was also historic.

Eleven days ago, she became the first black female head coach in Oregon State University history, handed the reins of a struggling women's basketball program.

Indeed, she is the first black woman to become a head coach in any sport at any of the four NCAA Division I universities within the state - OSU, Oregon, Portland and Portland State.

And she is the second black woman to be named a head women's basketball coach in Pac-10 history, following Cheryl Miller's two-season stint at Southern California a decade ago.

Those facts have not escaped Wagner, who agreed to a five-year contract, terms of which have not yet been disclosed. She is expected to make an annual salary in the neighborhood of $200,000.

"There aren't many of us," she said.

Of the 325 NCAA Division I women's basketball programs in the country, and excluding historically black colleges and universities, just 26 have black female head coaches, based on figures reported recently in The Washington Post.

"All of this has crossed my mind," said Wagner, born 41 years ago in Bristol, Va., and the second-oldest of five children in the family. "People ask if this is a good fit for me.

"The position is so visible, but I think it is great for the community and for women's basketball. I feel like I have been blessed."

Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, for whom Wagner worked the past three seasons, said Wagner is ready for the challenges of running a program and at the same time dealing with life's dynamics.

"LaVonda is more than ready to go her own way," said Goestenkors, praising her former assistant's talent for game and practice coaching as well as analyzing an opponent.

Wagner's so-called comfort zone is, it seems, wherever she happens to be at the moment.

"I have worked for some tremendous people," said Wagner, ranking Goestenkors and Illinois coach Theresa Grentz at the top of her list. "They constantly challenge their staffs and their student-athletes to step outside of their comfort zones."

That, Wagner said, is how a person grows and gets better.

"LaVonda is one of those people who do not want to become comfortable," said Goestenkors, whose Blue Devils program has recorded five straight 30-win seasons. "She embraces this opportunity. She is comfortable in any situation, comfortable with any audience, any age group, any race, creed or color. It's what made her good for Oregon State."

A 6-foot-1 1/2 former basketball and volleyball all-American at Mars Hill College near Asheville, N.C., Wagner once held a slew of game, season and career scoring and rebounding records for the then-NAIA school. Her No. 32 basketball jersey has been retired there, and she's a member of the Mars Hill hall of fame with her career totals of 2,036 points and 1,662 rebounds.

She began her coaching career as a volleyball coach at East Tennessee State, where she earned her master's degree in education in 1988. As an assistant basketball coach, she spent seven seasons at East Tennessee State, eight at Illinois - where she ultimately became associate head coach - and the past three at Duke, including a trip to the Final Four in 2003, Duke's third trip under Goestenkors.

At both Illinois and Duke, Wagner helped land recruiting classes annually ranked in the top five.

"One of the greatest recruiters I've ever been around," Goestenkors said. "LaVonda can relate well to anyone and everyone, and does. ... She's a great people person."

At Oregon State, people will be her first project, Wagner said, "because we must identify our needs, then identify the people who fit those needs."

The needs are great. The Beavers were last in the Pac-10 last season with a 1-17 regular-season conference record, equaling the OSU program-low league finish in 1989-90.

Oregon State's overall record of 6-23, the worst since a 5-26 nightmare in '89-90, led to coach Judy Spoelstra's firing after 10 years on the job.

It was OSU's sixth nonwinning season in a decade and the ninth straight year the Beavers failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

In the Pac-10 last season, Oregon State was 10th in rebounding, three-point field goals and assist-turnover ratio, and ninth in scoring, scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense and three-point percentage.

"The only way we can go is up," Wagner said.

Spoelstra signed four players to national letters of intent last fall. Wagner has two scholarships to give, for now.

"We will continue to look," she said. "We must bring in young women who can compete at this level, put us in a position to win. It's a tough league, but we've got to get our players walking, talking and eating like a champion."

Wagner has a regional and national recruiting background, but she said "it is very important that I get to know people in the state of Oregon. I know who the major players are but I need to form relationships, and build bonds and bridges with people here."

Wagner, who interviewed for coaching positions at Oklahoma State, Alabama and Saint Louis in late March and April, has a plan for Oregon State - evaluate the program, the personnel and the Pac-10.

"I've seen a lot of great coaches who did not have the horses and could not win the race," said Wagner, who twice before visited the Willamette Valley as an Illinois assistant coach - in 1997 when the Illini beat the Beavers and in 1994 when Oregon defeated Illinois.

There are other tasks. Wagner needs a staff of three assistant coaches.

"We're in the process," she said. "I'm looking for people who can help us get better, people I know and some people I don't." As for the hire of an assistant with West Coast ties, "it matters and is important," she said.

And, while refueling the program, Wagner must fire up those who remain on the roster.

"The main thing now is to change the mentality of the student-athletes so they have a positive outlook," Wagner said. "We must learn to play hard, be mentally tough, play through adversity and not quit."

CAPTION(S):

LaVonda Wagner spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach under Gail Goestenkors at Duke, which reached the Final Four in 2003.