Fresno State director of athletics Thomas Boeh introduced Jaime White as the new women’s head basketball coach Thursday afternoon in a press conference, a day after the hiring was made.
“We are very pleased that Jaime White will be leading our women’s basketball program,” Boeh said. “Throughout the search process Jaime displayed a level of clear vision, expertise and enthusiasm that will be vital for the continued advancement of Bulldog women’s basketball.
“Her early mentors are some of the finest coaches in the West and she recently demonstrated her capacity to lead significant program growth by building a Division I team from its infancy to perennial postseason play.”
White spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at Northern Colorado. There, she transformed the Bears from a Division II to a Division I program. The Bears have made three postseason appearances in the past four years under White.
“First of all I would like to thank director of athletics Thomas Boeh and president [Joseph] Castro for offering me this job,” White said. “I’m excited to be back in the Mountain West, and I really look forward to being a part of the Fresno State family and also the Fresno community.”
White takes over as head of the program just over two weeks after former Bulldogs coach Raegan Pebley resigned to accept the head-coaching job at Texas Christian University.
At UNC, White led the Bears to 117 wins, becoming the winningest head coach in program history. She also earned Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honors after the 2010-2011 season.
White is no stranger to the Mountain West, as she has spent time as an assistant at Utah (2001-03) and Wyoming (2003-06).
She helped lead the Utes to a Mountain West regular-season championship and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in her second season at Utah, ending the season with an overall record of 24-7.
At Wyoming, White helped guide the Cowgirls to their first conference tournament game in 12 years (2004). And in 2006, she led them to a first-round women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) victory over Oregon State and a 21-9 overall record.
White, a Lancaster, Calif., native, attended Utah Valley Community College in 1998 where she played under Tom Perkins and was named a Kodak All-American. She then transferred to Kansas State before finishing her basketball career and education at Southern Utah in 1994.
The Bulldogs have won four straight conference tournament titles and made seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. White said she is excited about the challenges that lie ahead and hopes to continue the program’s success.
“It’s exciting and having seven championships tells you that you can win,” White said. “You can look at it two ways: it can be a challenge or it can be positive and I look at the positive way. I think having the experience of winning that tournament championship is an important experience. So I’m excited to see what we can do to foster that.”