Beach women hire ‘Wynn’-er from USC

VIDEO: Jody Wynn introduced as the sixth women’s basketball coach in LBSU history

Jody Wynn has big plans for a Long Beach State women’s basketball team that finished last in the Big West Conference last season.

Wynn was named the new women’s head basketball coach at Long Beach State on Tuesday.

“We’re going to shock the conference,” she said.

Wynn was very charismatic in talking to the packed crowd in Ukleja Room of the Walter Pyramid filled with media, players, fans, parents and many LBSU employees.

Wynn signed a five-year contract with the 49ers. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

She will take over a team that finished 8-21 and 4-12 in the Big West last season. She succeeds Mary Hegarty as the sixth coach in the history of LBSU women’s basketball.

“It’s an incredible honor and I feel very fortunate to be sitting here … to be your new head coach here at Long Beach State,” said Wynn, who was joined by her husband Derek, two daughters Jada and Kaeli and her parents. “I am ready and prepared to move those 18 inches [from the assistant to head coach’s seat].”

LBSU Athletics Director Vic Cegles selected Wynn from a group of more than 75 potential coaches. He thought she would be a good fit for the program.

“Jody is recognized as an outstanding student of the game, a skilled recruiter and a terrific motivator who understands what it takes to win championships and compete at the highest level,” Cegles said.

Wynn, 35, spent the past five seasons at Southern California as a senior assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and head of scouting under LBSU alum Mark Trakh. The Trojans finished 17-15 and sixth place in the Pac-10 with a 9-9 record last season.

She plans to reach out to alumni connections, such as Los Angeles Sparks General Manager and President Penny Toler — an ex-49er whose number is retired in the Walter Pyramid.

“Absolutely, absolutely — am I dumb?” Wynn said, as the crowd buzzed in laughter. “What an incredible connection … We’re going to welcome [Toler] with the most open arms that we can and hopefully she’ll receive.”

Wynn would like to bring the tradition of winning back to LBSU. Wynn is excited to take over a 49er program that has nine returning seniors, including a key player in guard Karina Figueroa, who missed all of last season due to injury.

Returning senior guard Lauren Sims said, “[With] a new coach, it’s refreshing for the whole program. We do have nine seniors returning and that’s a strong force on the team. With a new coach we can go really far in one year.”

Wynn has experience working with teams that have sustained injuries to key players. One of her top recruits while an assistant at USC, Jacki Gemelos, had been sidelined for the past three years with a nagging knee injury. She said that it is always hard dealing with injuries; it means the rest of the team needs to work harder to pick the team up.

There is a blank slate in terms of next year’s starters. Wynn said that no starting spots are guaranteed.

“Nothing is promised, whether it’s a freshman or senior or returning starter. It’s how hard you work on a daily basis,” Wynn said.

The work and effort that the players show on a day-to-day basis will reflect who is chosen for the starting lineup.

Wynn said that she is going to develop her game plan after working with the team, but she likes a team that runs. She said the team’s first official practice will be conducted next Monday.

In a team meeting before the press conference, the players expressed the same sentiment for an up-tempo pace. Wynn wants to run a defense that shows their opposition’s different looks — man-to-man and different zone defenses — to keep them on their toes.

Wynn was an assistant coach for the past 13 seasons. After graduating from USC in 1996, she spent her first eight years at Pepperdine while working toward a master’s degree in education.

“It’s kind of ironic you go from the Waves to The Beach, huh?” Wynn joked.

While at Pepperdine, Wynn held a summer basketball camp where players like ex-Fordham University player Lara Hanson trained.

“She has been one of the faces for women’s basketball for the past 20-25 years,” Hanson said. “She embodies what women’s basketball should be; she’s an attractive, intelligent, very well-rounded person.”

At USC, Wynn brought in the nationally top-ranked recruiting class in 2006, coached seven All-Pac-10 performers, a conference freshman of the year and WNBA draft pick.

Her teams made eight appearances in the postseason, including five NCAA Tournament trips.

A Brea Olinda high school graduate, Wynn played for the Trojans from 1993-96 as a starting guard and made three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.