April 29, 2008
Contact: Alfred Kojima
EZELL NAMED HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
COACH AT UNIVERSITY OF MONTEVALLO
MONTEVALLO (4/29) – Brittney Ezell has been named the new head women’s basketball coach at the University of Montevallo it was announced Tuesday by Falcons athletic director Jim Herlihy.
Ezell comes to Montevallo after three years as the head coach at Okaloosa-Walton College in Niceville, Fla. She previously spent five years as the recruiting coordinator at the University of Alabama.
“We are excited to welcome Brittney Ezell as our new women’s basketball head coach,” said Herlihy. “Her energy and enthusiasm, her track record as a coach and student-athlete, and her ties to the state of Alabama will be big benefits for our student-athletes as we develop a competitive program in the Gulf South Conference.”
As head coach at Okaloosa-Walton, Ezell posted a 57-28 record (.671), which included an appearance in the NJCAA Regional Tournament and 20 wins in 2006. She developed 14 All-Panhandle Conference performers and developed 12 student-athletes who signed with NCAA Division I schools and two others who signed with NCAA Division II schools. She also coached two recipients of the Sandy Miller Award, which is given to the top female junior college student-athlete in Florida.
The Lady Raiders success carried over into the classroom where 12 student-athletes were named Academic All-Panhandle Conference during her tenure. Okaloosa-Walton also received a national academic award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The 2006-07 Lady Raiders were a WBCA Academic Top 25 (No. 17) program with a 3.016 cumulative GPA.
“I am thrilled to get back to the state of Alabama and join the University of Montevallo,” said Ezell. “I am excited about this opportunity and everything is in place for us to be successful there.”
Prior to OWC, Ezell was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Alabama, where she helped produce back-to-back Top 15 ranked recruiting classes, including the No. 12 nationally ranked class in 2003-04. She helped develop four All-Southeastern Conference guards in Shondra Johnson, Kate Mastin, Monique Bivins and Navonda Moore. She also helped to recruit 10 Academic All-SEC performers. The women’s basketball guide received a WBCA Academic Top 25 honor for the 2002-03 season.
Ezell was a four-year starting point guard for the Tide, helping lead the team to a 95-34 (.736) record and four consecutive NCAA Division I “Sweet Sixteen” appearances from 1994-98. She remains in the Top 20 in career scoring, with 1,022 points and is second all-time in career assists (620) and games started (114). She was a Second Team All-SEC selection in 1998 and was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team in 1996. In 1998, Ezell was a candidate for the Francis Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the top point guard in the country and was named to the inaugural WBCA/Honda All-Star Game for the nation’s top 20 players. She also was invited to the WNBA Rookie Combine in Chicago. Additionally, Ezell was a two-time Golden Glove recipient and two-year starter at third base and shortstop for the UA softball team. She started at third base for UA’s first SEC Tournament Championship team in 1998.
She received her bachelor’s degree in business management from UA in 1999, and her master’s degree in education administration from the University of Nebraska (Lincoln).
She is scheduled to begin her duties at Montevallo in May.
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