Yahoo Finance Pelicans hire former WNBA, Louisiana Tech star Teresa Weatherspoon as full-time assistant
Former WNBA star and Louisiana Tech coach Teresa Weatherspoon is now the NBA’s eighth full-time female assistant coach.
Weatherspoon was promoted by new New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy to full-time assistant on Monday afternoon. She had previously worked as a two-way player development coach with both the Pelicans and their G-League team.
Van Gundy also announced that he had hired Bob Beyer, Casey Hill and Rex Walters as assistants. He’s also picked up Corey Brewer and Beno Udrih as development coaches.
“I am excited about our coaching staff,” Van Gundy said in a statement. “We have a great mix of background, experience, perspective and expertise. Four of our assistants have been head coaches at the professional or NCAA Division I levels. Five of our coaches played in the NBA or WNBA. Three coaches have institutional knowledge having worked for Griff, Trajan and current Pelicans players, while three others have worked with me and two bring us an entirely new perspective. I am looking forward to working with this staff to maximize the potential of our talented players.”
Teresa Weatherspoon hired full-time by Pelicans
Weatherspoon played at Louisiana Tech from 1984-88, and helped lead them to their second NCAA championship during her senior season. She then played overseas in Italy, France and Russia before joining the New York Liberty in 1997.
Weatherspoon played in the WNBA for eight seasons, all but one of which were with the Liberty. The five-time All-Star spent her final season in the league with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2004 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
Congrats to former Sparks player Teresa Weatherspoon (@Finisher_11) for being promoted to a @PelicansNBA Assistant Coach! 🙌🤩#GoSparks | #LeadTheCharge pic.twitter.com/TukNZEudKm
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) November 16, 2020
She returned to Louisiana Tech after her playing career to coach the program from 2009-14 and compiled a 99-71 record there while reaching the NCAA tournament twice and winning the WAC tournament in 2010.
Weatherspoon is now the eighth full-time female coach in the NBA, joining Brittni Donaldson, Lindsay Gottlieb, Jenny Boucek, Becky Hammon, Sonia Raman, Lindsey Harding and Natalie Nakase.
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