Pebley accepts position at Fresno State
Raegan Pebley stepped down as head coach of the Utah State women’s basketball team Saturday, after accepting the head coaching position at Fresno State University.
“My experience at Utah State has been priceless,” Pebley said. “I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to restart Utah State’s women’s basketball program and help develop it into the program it is today. Thank you to the entire Cache Valley community, who have given my family precious memories and relationships.”
Fresno State expressed interest in Pebley after its former coach Adrian Wiggins was hired to coach at the University of Mississippi. Pebley said that opened the door for her to become the ninth head coach in the history of Fresno State women’s basketball.
“Obviously that created a vacancy,” Pebley said. “They expressed an interest and asked if I was interested in having discussions. The process happened pretty quickly. It’s been a pretty amazing experience so far with Fresno State and an unbelievably perfect experience at Utah State.”
Pebley, whose father coached women’s basketball for 30 years, said family was a big part of the decision to make the move because her husband, Keith, has a lot of family in California. The couple has two children, an 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.
Pebley said the caliber of the women’s basketball program at Fresno State also played a role in her move.
“Fresno is a program I’ve admired,” Pebley said. “I admire those young ladies, and (USU has) competed against them for a long time. There’s a consistency about that program, and the support that’s behind it is admirable as well.”
When the women’s basketball program was reinstated at USU in 2002, Pebley was appointed as head coach and helped build the program from the ground up. Nine years later she departs, ranked first in all-time wins as head coach at Utah State with 110.
“I always promised that we would continue to improve and become one of the top programs in our region and within our conference,” Pebley said. “I feel like we’ve gotten to that point. (The players) are so much a part of the reason I had turned other opportunities down, and this was really about a family move.”
Number of wins is one record Pebley – 2012 WAC Coach of the Year – achieved. She also earned 2011-12 Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association Region 7 Coach of the Year. Under her direction, the Aggies also hit 20 wins for the first time in school history this season and earned the school’s first postseason berth in 20 years.
Despite all of the on-court success, Pebley said she is most proud of players’ achievements in the classroom.
“I know we’ve done things on paper that look great statistically at the end of the season,” Pebley said. “I’m most proud of the young women in the program that have graduated and the relationships that they have with one another. It’s truly a blessing and an honor to have been part of such a huge part of their lives, and I am so proud of them.”
Pebley has gone from being an assistant at George Mason University and Colorado State to head coach at Utah State. The Colorado graduate said her time at Utah State has had plenty of memories.
“There are a lot of (memories),” Pebley said, “but most of them have to do with senior nights and graduation days. Signing days, moments in the locker room after huge comeback victories, when we’re at the hotel – those are some of my most impressive moments.”
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu