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SEATTLE — The University of Washington has hired Jody Wynn as the women’s basketball coach to replace Mike Neighbors, who guided the team to the Final Four in 2016.
Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen announced the decision on Friday. Wynn spent the last eight seasons at Long Beach State. The 49ers nearly pulled off one of the NCAA Tournament’s biggest upsets last month, narrowly falling to No. 2 seed Oregon State 56-55.
“I am thrilled to welcome Jody and her family to the University of Washington,” Cohen said in a press release. “She has built a culture of excellence at Long Beach State, which has inspired championship values and achieved results. She possesses a fierce competitive nature, and always operates with the utmost integrity. I believe her skill set and experiences are the perfect fit to capitalize on the momentum our program has built and lead us into the future.”
Wynn led Long Beach State to three consecutive 20-win seasons during her tenure. She inherits a team that loses superstar Kelsey Plum, who set the NCAA career scoring record this season and was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on Thursday night.
“I am thrilled to be part of such a prestigious University, and to build on a tremendous women’s basketball culture that has been established at Washington” Wynn said. “The city of Seattle loves basketball, and I’m excited to bring our family there, and to build a wonderful family environment within our program.”
Wynn entered the coaching ranks in 1996-97 as an assistant at Pepperdine. She later worked as an assistant, recruiter and head of scouting at Southern California.
Neighbors recently accepted the job at Arkansas.
Washington will formally introduce Wynn as its 11th women’s basketball coach at a press conference at 3 p.m. Monday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
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