Colleen Matsuhara

Colleen Matsuhara, who led the UC Irvine women's basketball team to the NCAA tournament two years ago, will not have her contract renewed, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said Friday. In a press release, Guerrero said the decision "is in the best interest of the university. It creates an opportunity for us to select new leadership for the program which will help us strengthen our position in the Big West Conference and eventually move into the national scene."

Colleen Matsuhara and Derek Lawther make tidy bookends. ". . . we felt that now is the appropriate time to make a change that we felt was necessary," UC Irvine Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. That was in 1994, when Lawther, the Anteater men's soccer coach, did not have his contract renewed. The words were a little different, but the action was the same Friday, when Matsuhara, UCI's women's basketball coach, was told her contract would not be renewed.

Colleen Matsuhara has always been easy to spot on the gym floor at a crowded, college basketball game. It's not just that she's the coach. She's also the only one just over 5 feet tall. "If I'm meeting someone for the first time, I just tell them to look for the short Asian woman and, sure enough, they find me every time," said Matsuhara, a third-generation Japanese-American.

Colleen Matsuhara, who led the UC Irvine women's basketball team to the NCAA tournament two years ago, will not have her contract renewed, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said Friday. In a press release, Guerrero said the decision "is in the best interest of the university. It creates an opportunity for us to select new leadership for the program which will help us strengthen our position in the Big West Conference and eventually move into the national scene."

Colleen Matsuhara and Derek Lawther make tidy bookends. ". . . we felt that now is the appropriate time to make a change that we felt was necessary," UC Irvine Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. That was in 1994, when Lawther, the Anteater men's soccer coach, did not have his contract renewed. The words were a little different, but the action was the same Friday, when Matsuhara, UCI's women's basketball coach, was told her contract would not be renewed.

Colleen Matsuhara knew she was on to something good when she could not get Shannon Anders on the telephone. Matsuhara, the UC Irvine women's basketball coach, was making her big push a year ago to sign Anders, a 5-foot-8 guard from Grapevine (Texas). When she called, she got the same answer. "She was at the gym every time I called," Matsuhara said. "That gave me a pretty good idea what sort of player we would be getting."

Colleen Matsuhara, a Cal State Long Beach assistant and a respected recruiter, was named UC Irvine women's basketball coach Monday. Matsuhara, formerly a head coach at Nebraska, had been one of three coaches being considered for the still-vacant Cal State Long Beach job, and was also being sought as an assistant at Arizona by former Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini.

Mark Adams was named an assistant coach for the UC Irvine women's basketball team, Anteater Coach Colleen Matsuhara said Monday. Adams was a women's assistant coach at Baylor last season. Before coaching at Baylor, Adams was head coach at Hardin-Simmons (Abilene, Tex.) for three seasons, leading the women's team to two NAIA playoff appearances.

Sherise Sandoz, a forward from Downey Pius X High, has signed with UC Irvine, women's basketball Coach Colleen Matsuhara announced Thursday. Sandoz, 5-feet-8, averaged 25.4 points and 15.9 rebounds last season.

Colleen Matsuhara, a Cal State Long Beach assistant, was named UC Irvine women's basketball coach Monday. She replaces Dean Andrea, who was fired recently after 13 years as coach. Matsuhara, a 1974 graduate of Cal State Sacramento, was the coach at Nebraska for three seasons from 1980-83, compiling a 46-44 record, and was an assistant athletic director atUCLA from 1983-85. She also has international coaching experience.

Colleen Matsuhara knew she was on to something good when she could not get Shannon Anders on the telephone. Matsuhara, the UC Irvine women's basketball coach, was making her big push a year ago to sign Anders, a 5-foot-8 guard from Grapevine (Texas). When she called, she got the same answer. "She was at the gym every time I called," Matsuhara said. "That gave me a pretty good idea what sort of player we would be getting."

Colleen Matsuhara has always been easy to spot on the gym floor at a crowded, college basketball game. It's not just that she's the coach. She's also the only one just over 5 feet tall. "If I'm meeting someone for the first time, I just tell them to look for the short Asian woman and, sure enough, they find me every time," said Matsuhara, a third-generation Japanese-American.

Colleen Matsuhara, a Cal State Long Beach assistant and a respected recruiter, was named UC Irvine women's basketball coach Monday. Matsuhara, formerly a head coach at Nebraska, had been one of three coaches being considered for the still-vacant Cal State Long Beach job, and was also being sought as an assistant at Arizona by former Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini.

Senior point guard Tamera Thomas, who led UC Irvine's women's team in assists and steals, has quit the team for personal reasons, according to Coach Colleen Matsuhara. Thomas, who was averaging 30 minutes, was third on the team in scoring with a 10.8 average. She has been in and out of Matsuhara's doghouse throughout her career and was dropped from the starting lineup Jan. 7 against UC Santa Barbara for erratic play. But she started Wednesday against Long Beach State.

A month ago, UC Irvine Coach Colleen Matsuhara took her team to the Bren Center to witness a photo shoot involving the Big West tournament trophy. "Tamera Thomas has a comment for every occasion," Matsuhara said, "and I remember her saying, 'They might as well just leave it here for us."