May 30, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Aztec head basketball coach Beth Burns announced the hiring Tuesday of Shanele Stires as an assistant coach at San Diego State. Stires, who starred at Kansas State and played professionally both overseas and in the WNBA, will begin her duties at SDSU in June.
"We are pleased to announce the addition of Shanele (pronounced shu-NELL) Stires to our coaching staff," Burns said. "Our Aztec team is on the verge of something very, very special and we did an extremely thorough search to find the candidate who is most suited to our needs as an enthusiastic teacher and motivator with a proven background in `Xs and Os' and will be committed to the growth and development of our athletes.
"Coach Stires is a proven winner, who is passionate about basketball. Her versatility as an athlete allowed her to have a long and successful professional career (ABL, WNBA). Playing all five positions at the pro level is remarkable and a testament to her work ethic, determination and coachability. She has played for, and worked with, some excellent teachers of the game. Her expertise in `Xs and Os' and ability to teach and communicate set her apart. (Current USF head coach) Tanya Haave, like myself, comes from the (former Colorado head coach) Ceal Barry coaching tree. I am very comfortable that coach Stires will be able to impact our staff immediately."
Stires recently completed her second year as an assistant coach at the University of San Francisco, where she worked with the Dons' forwards and post players, while also assisting with recruiting and scouting and working as the team's community service liaison. In her two years in the Bay Area, USF went from 9-20 the year prior to her arrival in 2005-06, to a 14-16 overall mark last season.
"From the time I stepped in the door (at SDSU), everything was first class," Stires said. "Coach Burns has built a reputation of being able to get people focused on a common goal. You can tell that this team is locked in and there is an immediate feeling that a championship in just around the corner."
Before moving to California, Stires was an assistant coach at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, from 2003-06. Her on-court duties included working with the Bobcat post players, while off the court, she helped with recruiting, opponent scouting, team conditioning, marketing, summer camps, travel and community outreach. Stires tutored a pair of all-Mid-American Conference players and an all-league freshman team performer at Ohio.
Stires also has experience coaching at the prep level as an assistant for the 1997 5A Kansas state runner-up team at Salina South High School and was a volunteer assistant coach at NCAA Division III Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., from 2002-03. In 2002, she organized and conducted her own high school basketball clinic and has worked behind the scenes with both the Minnesota Lynx and Columbus Quest.
Stires entered the coaching ranks after a successful professional playing career in the WNBA and ABL and overseas in Greece, Portugal and Sweden. She played both guard and forward for the Minnesota Lynx from 2000-03, and the Columbus Quest from 1996-98, when the team won a pair of ABL championships.
A 1995 graduate of Kansas State with a bachelor's degree in social science, Stires was a three-year letterwinner for the Wildcats from 1992-95. She was an honorable mention Kodak All-American, first-team all-Big 8 selection and runner-up for conference player of the year as a senior in 1995, after twice being named to the all-league second team. The Salina, Kan., native left K-State ranked fifth in career rebounding (701) and sixth in scoring (1,344 points).
"Coach Stires has a big personality and an extremely high energy level," Burns said. "Our players will be excited to be around her and will benefit from her past experiences. She knows what must be done to win championships. She will be a big part of our practice preparation, on-court teaching and game preparation through scouting our opponents."