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July 13, 2004
Curtis Named New Women's Basketball Coach at LHU
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(Lock Haven, Pa.) - Lock
Haven
University
of
Pennsylvania
has named Valerie Curtis as the new head coach of the Lady Eagle basketball
program. Curtis had served the previous two seasons as the assistant coach for
the Lady Eagl
es. This will be her first position as a collegiate head coach.
“We
are pleased that Lock Haven is the place where Coach Curtis will have her first
head coaching job,” said University President Craig Dean Willis. “One of
the good things that the previous coach did was to bring Coach Curtis into Lock
Haven. She’s an extremely hard worker and any organization would be lucky to
have her.”
“Based on
her interactions with the athletics administration in everything she handled
the past two years, we had great confidence in Coach Curtis,” said Director
of Athletics Sharon E. Taylor. “It was nice to find that the student-athletes
also had a real comfort level with her as well as confidence.”
Prior to coming to Lock Haven, Curtis was serving as a Health and
Physical Education teacher at
West Side
Ninth
Grade
Success
Academy
in
Newark
,
New Jersey
. Before that, Curtis was a member of
previous head coach Britt King’s staff at
Fresno
State
from 1998-2002.
In addition to on-the-floor duties at Fresno, Curtis served as
recruiting coordinator and was in charge of opponent scouting, pre-season and
post-season conditioning, as well as student-athlete academic advising.
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Lady Eagle Head Coach
Valerie Curtis
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“I’m
glad to be able to continue with the Lock Haven women’s basketball program,
to keep our family together and to remove some of the anxieties the players had
with the changes going on,” said Curtis about her new assignment. “I’m
excited to remain at Lock Haven and having a repore with the players helps -- I
didn’t want them to worry about making the adjustment. As far as the program
goes, I am looking to continue to give the student-athletes the chance to
succeed academically, as people and as players every night on the court.”
Curtis began her coaching career at the University of the
District of Columbia
in
Washington
,
D.C.
While
at UDC, she served as an assistant coach for two seasons from 1995-97.
During that time, she also served as the coordinator of Martha’s Table
Adolescent Program, which counseled and motivated disadvantaged teens, and as a
project site director of the Communities in Schools program in
Washington
,
D.C.
, administrating and implementing the
development of the D.C. Reads program at selected elementary schools.
As a student-athlete, Curtis was a four-year starter and leading scorer
for the UDC Firebirds. She was the
1993 NCAA Division II steals leader, averaging 6.1 steals per game (135 total),
an average which still ranks her second on the nation’s single-season chart.
With a career total of 4.7 steals per game (318 steals), she is third on
the NCAA’s all-time list in steals average. As a senior, Curtis helped lead
the Firebirds to a 20-6 overall ledger and a berth into the 1995 NCAA
tournament.
Prior to post-secondary education, Curtis served in the United States
Navy from 1986 through 1990. She
earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Education in 1996 and a master’s of
science in Public Administration in 1998 from the University of the
District of Columbia
.
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