Two of USC Coach Michael Cooper’s three assistant coaches have been let go from the program.
Ervin Monier and Kelley Gibson’s contracts have not been renewed and they won’t return for the 2010-2011 season, said women’s basketball spokeswoman Darcy Couch, who explained that the move was “a coach’s decision.”
No replacement coaches have been named. Assistant coach Mary Wooley remains on staff.
The move was surprising in that this season’s results—19-12 overall, 12-6 in Pac-10 play—represented a marked improvement from last year’s 17-15, 9-9 finish. Indeed, the last time the Ladies of Troy finished with more than 17 games in the win column was 2005-06, when they ended 19-12, 11-7, but still did not make the field for the NCAA Tournament.
Monier, who was associate head coach, came aboard last summer and acted as head coach while Cooper finished out his final year as head of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. He was often a vocal presence along the sidelines.
Monier had high school and junior college coaching experience in the Los Angeles area before becoming assistant head coach at Temple University under Dawn Staley. He then moved on to become the associate head coach at Rhode Island for five years.
Gibson played basketball for the University of Maryland, and was on the Houston Comets’ roster from 2000-2004. Before coming to USC, she was assistant coach at the University of Maine.
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