Jason Pruitt And His Staff Named The 2023 SCIAC Coaching Staff Of The Year

Women's Basketball

Feb 23, 2023

Laguna Niguel, CA - The SCIAC announced that University of La Verne women's basketball head coach Jason Pruitt and his staff have been named the 2023 SCIAC Coaching Staff Of The Year.

Coach Pruitt and his coaching staff (assistant coaches Clarissa Perez, Ryan Southern, Michael Walker, Shaylynn McMillen, Aysia Randall and Eloisa Smith) led the Leopards to a historic season during the 2022-2023 campaign. The Leopards amassed many records this season as the accumulated national rankings in multiple polls.

The Leopards finished the season with a record of 23-2 (one of the losses coming to a Division I school) and finished the SCIAC Conference season with a record of 15-1. The team also won 18 games in a row, the longest winning streak in the history of women's basketball at the University of La Verne. The Top 25 Women's College Basketball National Coaches Polls from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and D3Hoops recognized the Leopards as they were ranked in both polls throughout this season, ranked as high as #18 and also being ranked #24, #22 and #21 in the nation. The Leopards had an outstanding record both at The Tents and on the road as they finished 13-1 at home and 10-1 on the road. Coach Pruitt and his staff led the Leopards to the first-ever #1 seed in the SCIAC Conference Tournament in the history of the women's basketball program. During the course of the season, three different Leopards also won SCIAC Athlete Of The Week Honors. Head coach Jason Pruitt praised his staff and everybody involved in his program, as they all are equally important to the team's success.

"I always tell people, it's an easy answer. I love the game of basketball. The game paid for my education, and I have been able to travel the world because of the sport. Coaching basketball is like a breath of fresh air, after working a decade in the television industry.

There is a lot to love about Coaching at the University of La Verne. Each of us has been entrusted with a special opportunity to use our profession as a ministry. Our student-athletes are diverse, unique and incredibly talented. Our God is Head Coach and we worship him first above any win-loss record.

This Coaching Staff The Year award is not about me, it's about my staff. Clarissa Perez, Elosia Smith, Ryan Southern, Aysia Randall, Michael Walker, and Shaylynn McMillen, they are the true MVP's. We are a family; every member of the staff has either played for me or has been with me from the start of my college coaching career. Coach Smith had the luxury of coaching my daughter and I am truly grateful for her. When you have a staff where everyone is on the same page and they believe in your vision, it makes coming to work a joy.

I would l also like to thank Meg Ryan, our Athletic Trainer for Women's Basketball for keeping us healthy. Special thanks to Joanna Engel-Finer, Keith Savage, and Josh Davis for filling in for Meg from time-to-time. I would like to thank Matt Durrant, Eric Munsey, and Isaiah Gueits for the work that they put in with our team during the preseason and the season. Our success started in the weight room. Without the ATC Staff and the Strength and Conditioning staff we would be in a world of trouble. Not too many NCAA Division III programs have specialized staff that are dedicated to their own programs.

Our coaching staff believes that the process is as important as the performance. How strong can our performance really be, if we didn't value or invest in the process? In our program, we will always believe that Athletics are a mean to an end, not the end themselves and the person (student-athlete) is more important than the program.

Thank you so much for recognizing us as SCIAC Coaching Staff Of The Year!"