There’s a new face on the San Diego State women’s basketball team: newly-hired head coach Stacie Terry.
On Wednesday, SDSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced that 36-year-old Terry would step in as head coach of the Aztecs women’s basketball team.
Last month, former SDSU head coach Beth Burns announced her sudden retirement from the team, prompting an immediate search for a new head coach.
Following that announcement, Sterk didn’t shed any light on Burns’ departure, or why the veteran coach retired eight months after signing a five-year contract extension, and after coaching the Aztecs to a 27-win season.
On Wednesday, Terry told NBC 7 she didn’t know the details surrounding Burns’ retirement, but said she was extremely excited about following the former head coach’s example.
“She has done an amazing job here. There’s definitely a winning tradition, and I look forward to following in those footsteps. She’s done a tremendous job in what she was able to do in the time she was here,” Terry told NBC 7.
Terry’s new job in San Diego is, essentially, a homecoming.
This is the head coach’s hometown, and she says she’s thrilled to return to her roots.
“I’m so excited to be here. This is huge. This is a special opportunity for me to come home and not only have a great situation professionally, but to have my family, my biggest supporters, be able to watch,” she explained.
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Terry has spent the past two seasons coaching the Lady Tigers at Louisiana State University. During her time at LSU, the Lady Tigers compiled a 45-23 overall record and earned two NCAA tournament bids, including a “Sweet 16” appearance.
Before her arrival at LSU, Terry served as an assistant under head coach Nikki Caldwell at UCLA, helping the Bruins gain national acclaim with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.
She was also a recruiting coordinator at Southern Mississippi, the assistant coach at Illinois, Dayton and Louisville, and a graduate assistant at Texas-Arlington.
Terry played college basketball herself at Texas-Arlington from 1994 to 1998. Before that, she graduated from El Capitan High School and lived in Lakeside with her family.
To this day, Terry still holds the career-scoring record at El Capitan. She was inducted into the high school’s hall of fame in 2008.
Terry says she’s looking forward to basketball season and getting the ball rolling with the Aztecs.
She says “family” will be a running theme for her team, both on and off the court.
“We’re going to work hard. There’s going to be a lot of discipline, but we’re going to have fun doing it,” said Terry.
Meanwhile, Sterk says SDSU is confident in their move to bring Terry on as head coach.
“We are excited to welcome Stacie Terry into the Aztec athletics family,” Sterk said. “She brings a tremendous amount of experience, passion and character to SDSU women’s basketball. I look forward to the future of our program under her leadership.”
SDSU men’s basketball head coach Steve Fisher also had this to say about Terry:
“I am excited to welcome Stacie Terry to the Aztec family. I had an opportunity to spend some time with her during the process and am impressed with her experience and the success she has been a part of, most recently at LSU and UCLA. She has a wealth of experience and has shown the ability to recruit wherever she has coached. Having gone to high school here and having family in the area, she is very familiar with the San Diego high school scene. I am happy that she is in our basketball family and look forward to watching her carry on the successful tradition of Aztec women’s basketball.”
