Former USU Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach Erin Scholz Named Head Coach at Fresno Pacific
Former Utah State assistant women’s basketball coach Erin Scholz has been named the head coach at Fresno Pacific University. Scholz’s hiring as head coach of the NAIA program was announced Sunday.
“I was privileged to be an assistant coach for Utah State Women’s Basketball for the past four seasons. I believe in this women’s basketball program, and I believe in the excellent coaches who are leading it. I am thankful to have worked with passionate and motivated administrators and support staff who have supported women’s basketball well,” Scholz said.
Scholz takes over a Sunbirds’ program that finished the 2009-10 season with a 9-21 overall record, and went 5-15 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, placing 10th in conference standings.
“I have been awarded the tremendous honor of being the head women’s basketball coach at Fresno Pacific University. The FPU campus and community combine to be a vibrant treasure that I am thrilled to become a part of. I extend a genuine ‘thank you’ to Utah State head coach, Raegan Pebley, as well as the entire USU athletics department, for being instrumental in preparing me for my future in leadership,” said Scholz.
Scholz becomes Fresno Pacific’s seventh women’s basketball head coach since the beginning of the program in 1981.
“We are very pleased to have Erin joining the Sunbird athletic staff to bring leadership to our women’s basketball program. She is an outstanding mentor for young women, brings incredible enthusiasm and passion, and is an outstanding basketball coach. She brings a commitment to excellence both inside and outside of the competitive venue that resonates with Sunbird Athletics” said Fresno Pacific Athletics Director Dennis Janzen.
As an assistant coach at Utah State, Scholz worked primarily with Utah State’s post players. She helped lead Utah State to an 11-17 record last season, its second-straight 10-win season, including 5-11 in Western Athletic Conference action. Scholz also helped mentor 2010 WAC all-freshman team honoree center Banna Diop. Also under Scholz, the 2010 squad set a school record with 144 blocks last season. Scholz also helped lead the Aggies to their first WAC Tournament win at the 2009 tournament.
“Fresno Pacific and Erin are literally a match made in heaven. Erin coaches with her faith in God on her sleeve and I believe that Fresno Pacific was looking for that exact thing,” USU head coach Raegan Pebley said.
Scholz came to Utah State after a playing career with the Colorado Chill of the National Women’s Basketball League (NWBL), helping the Chill secure two NWBL ProCup Championships in 2005 and 2006.
She was a college teammate of Pebley at Colorado from 1993-97, where Scholz played in a school record 132 games, starting a school-record 127 contests. She is No. 2 on the Buffs’ career rebounds list with 1,067, an average of 8.1 rebounds per game, which ranks No. 5 on CU’s career rebounding average list. Scholz is also fourth in CU history in points scored, ranking 14th in career scoring average with 12.3 points per game.
Scholz was the founding player of CU’s 500-200-50 single-season club with 544 points, 279 rebounds and 80 assists in 1995-96, ranking fifth in the single-season scoring list and eighth in rebounding.
She also is CU’s school-record holder for single-game NCAA Tournament marks with 19 rebounds against Southwest Missouri State (March 17, 1995). She also is the single-game school-record holder with 12 free throws vs. Auburn (March 17, 1996), attempting 17 free throws which also tied a CU school-record.
Scholz received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado in 1999.
“Our program will miss Erin tremendously, but we are so proud of her. During the four years she has been here she has been apart of many program milestones. Personally, it was a great blessing to work with not only one of the best teammates I’ve ever had, but one of my closest and dearest friends,” Pebley said.
Scholz is the second assistant coach under Coach Pebley that has moved directly from our program into a head coaching position. Tricia Bader-Binford was the first, taking the head coach position at Montana State in 2005.
Scholz is also the second member of Pebley’s staff to leave this season, as Astou Ndiaye-Diatta left to pursue other personal options. Pebley hopes to announce their replacements in the coming weeks.