Arlington grad named women’s basketball coach at Central

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 26, 2017

ELLENSBURG — It wasn’t that long ago that Randi Richardson was unsure whether she wanted to be a basketball coach at all.

But now, just six years after her college playing career ended, she finds herself holding the reins of her own college program.

Richardson, a graduate of Arlington High School, was hired as the head coach of the Central Washington University women’s basketball team, the school announced Wednesday.

This puts Richardson in a position she never envisioned for herself while she was playing at Arlington or the University of Wyoming.

“I didn’t think I’d ever make the transition from player to coach,” she said when reached by phone Wednesday. “I thought it would be too hard for me because I love to play so much. I thought I wouldn’t be able to stand on the sidelines and watch.

“But Joe Marsh at Arlington offered me a chance (to be an assistant coach with the Eagles) when I came home after college, and after the first week I fell in love with coaching.”

Richardson, who graduated from Arlington in 2006 following a storied playing career in which she departed as the second-leading scorer in school history, spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Central under Jeff Harada. Harada stepped down last week to take the head-coaching position at Cal State Fullerton, and Richardson had been serving as interim coach.

This is Richardson’s first head-coaching job. After graduating from the University of Wyoming in 2011, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Arlington, followed by two years as an assistant at Seattle Pacific University before arriving at Central.

“I’m just very grateful for the opportunity,” Richardson said. “It’s been a goal of mine since I first got a taste of coaching that I knew I wanted to be a head coach one day. I finally got a shot and I’m just so grateful. It couldn’t be in a better place.

“I knew from being an assistant here and being in this town, it was just a great fit for me,” Richardson added. “Ellensburg is so much like the town where I went to college, Laramie. The size of the town and the environment and the culture, it has a smaller town feel, and that’s just a really great fit. I knew that if Jeff ever left, this would be an ideal spot.”

Richardson knows it’s early in her coaching career to become a head coach — she has just four years of experience as an assistant at the college level. Because of that, she wasn’t sure whether she would be Central’s choice. However, she knew she was ready for the responsibility.

“The timing is right,” said Richardson, who had no hesitation about pursuing the head spot. “It feels like all my experiences led to this point and prepared me so I’d be ready for this specific job. I’ve been in the (Great Northwest Athletic Conference) for four years, so I’m familiar with the conference. I was born and raised in the state of Washington, so I have good recruiting ties. And being at Central the last two years I understand the capabilities of all the kids on the team. I already know I love the university and the athletic department. It’s just the right timing.”

Richardson inherits a Wildcats team that finished 9-11 in the GNAC last season and 15-15 overall. Central returns 14 players for the 2017-18 season. That includes forward Taylor Baird, a graduate of Glacier Peak High School, and guard Jasmin Edwards, a graduate of Lynnwood. Both were second-team all-GNAC selections this past season as juniors.

“I couldn’t ask for a better situation,” Richardson said. “Fourteen of the 15 kids are returning — we lost one great senior, but 14 are returning. We have two all-conference players and a couple players coming back from injury who missed last year. We have the most depth returning in the conference, so we have really high expectations.

“I’ve already built relationships with all the players by being an assistant here,” Richardson added. “I know the kids, they trust me, I trust them, I believe in all of them. Having that baseline relationship is a big hurdle that a lot of coaches coming into a job have to step over. I already have that relationship with the team.”

Richardson will be trying to lead the Wildcats to their first winning season in the GNAC since 2004-05.