UCLA women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier is stepping down after 15 years with the program and will move to an administrative position within the athletic department.
“This was one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Olivier said in a statement Tuesday. “I have been offered the opportunity to take the next step in my career, and I think the timing is right.”
Olivier’s decision to resign follows an up-and-down season in which the Bruins struggled to maintain consistency while integrating a highly touted recruiting class. The Bruins’ season ended in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals with a 78-45 loss to Stanford.
“Kathy and I had a long discussion following the game about the state of the program and its future,” said Petrina Long, an associate athletic director who oversees women’s sports at UCLA. “This was a very difficult decision for Kathy. This morning she came in and was comfortable with the decision to move on.”
Since UCLA hired her in 1993, Olivier compiled a 232-208 record with the Bruins, including a Pac-10 title in 1999 and conference tournament title in 2006. In that time, however, the Bruins have failed to advance to a Final Four, getting only as far as the Elite Eight in 1999. Recent mediocre records ““ despite a bevy of first-class talent ““ frustrated Bruin fans.
In recent years, Olivier’s teams struggled to achieve higher goals in spite of her teams having talented players, including Nikki Blue, Lisa Willis and, most recently, Noelle Quinn. All three currently play in the WNBA.
“It is about championships at UCLA. It is important to be on the national scene. That is always the goal,” Long said. “Fifteen years is a long time. … She also realized it was time to turn the women’s basketball program over to new leadership.”
The changing of the guard in the coaching position comes at a crucial juncture for the program, which is trying to build on young talent. Freshmen Doreena Campbell, Darxia Morris, Regina Rogers and Candice Brown all received significant minutes during the season.
This youth contributed to turning the 2007-2008 season into a roller-coaster ride.
The year featured a stunning upset of No. 2 Stanford, close calls with perennial powers Maryland and Tennessee, as well as frustrating defeats to Idaho State, San Diego and Pepperdine.
Against crosstown rival USC at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins scored just 36 points, a record low. Despite a recent victory over the Trojans in the Pac-10 Tournament, Olivier’s squad had won just one of the last eight contests with USC.
Olivier’s decision came as a surprise to players, who met with Long on Tuesday afternoon.
“Kathy and her staff are the best,” senior captain Lindsey Pluimer said in a statement Tuesday. “They mean the world to me and have instilled a tremendous amount of pride in me and this program.”
Pluimer was an All-Conference performer this season and started every game of her UCLA career.
“I am disappointed to hear the news of the coaching change. Kathy and her staff were a big reason I made the decision to attend UCLA,” Campbell said.
Campbell served as the Bruin’s primary point guard following a knee injury to Morris against Tennessee.
“They have done a great deal to assist me in the transition to college,” Campbell said. “It is comforting to know (Olivier) will remain at UCLA.”
Olivier’s daughter Alexis remains on the basketball team.
Olivier’s position in the athletic department is not yet decided, but it will be one directly reporting to Long.
“What has been most gratifying is working with the players in our program and helping them become young women who can make a difference in our society,” Olivier said. “I will still be a member of the Bruin family that I have loved being part of.”
A national coaching search will begin immediately, though a conclusion might be some distance down the road. Long declined to name any specific candidates but acknowledged that several may be participating in the upcoming women’s NCAA Tournament, slowing down the search process.
“We’re not going to rush,” Long said. “It takes an amazing person to be a head coach at UCLA in any sport.”
Long said experience is a key requisite for the vacant coaching spot, though she would not rule out hiring someone inexperienced for the coaching position, citing that the circumstances would have to be “special.”
With a wealth of talent returning, both Long and Olivier feel that the next women’s basketball coach will inherit a team with potential greatness.
“I think we’ve got a great group of young women,” Long said. “There has been a great foundation laid for this program.”