United Athletic Conference

DENVER ? Utah State women’s basketball players Ndoumbe Diop, Ana Pares, Shawnta Pope and Danyelle Snelgro recently participated in the So You Want To Be A Coach program hosted by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The two-and-a-half day annual workshop was held in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention and Women’s Final Four in St. Louis, Mo.

The So You Want To Be A Coach Program was designed to increase the number of minorities in the coaching profession, by providing a workshop based on educational and professional principles to help those interested in the field. Participants had the opportunity to meet and learn from some high level professionals such as St. Louis head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller, Washington assistant coach Fred Applin, Marist assistant coach Keila Whittington and many others.

WAC staff members Darlene Bailey and Mollie Lehman presented a session at the workshop on successful interviewing skills and techniques.

Participants must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or have graduated within the past year. In addition, the participant's head coach had to nominate them and must be an active WBCA member. Participants are selected based on their academics, contributions to women's basketball on and off the court, professional resume and a written recommendation from their head coach. The program is made possible through the NCAA Matching Grants for the Advancement of Minority Women Coaches.

In addition to the workshop, Diop, Pares, Pope and Snelgro got to attend the NCAA Tournament semifinal games.


Ana Pares (front row, far left) at
the So You Want To Be A
Coach workshop.

Listed below is the 2009 class of WBCA's So You Want To Be A Coach: