April 15, 2008
Pocatello, ID --- Jon Newlee, the winningest coach in Idaho State University women's basketball history, has announced that he is leaving the Bengal program to take the head coaching position at the University of Idaho, where he will take over for Mike Divilbiss, who resigned from his position on March 28th with two years left on his contract and a seven-year record with the Vandals of 82-119.
Newlee this past season led the Bengals to a 20-10 mark and their third consecutive post-season berth as ISU advanced to the WNIT, where they lost to Boise State. The 20 wins marked only the third time in school history that the Bengals broke the 20-win plateau, and Newlee had one of those other seasons, leading ISU to a 20-9 mark in his second season.
Over his six-year career, Newlee led the Bengals to a 93-82 mark, and a 54-34 Big Sky Conference record, including three second place finishes, and a first place regular season title in 2006. In 2007, the Bengals went 17-14, finishing second in the league and winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in school history, where ISU lost to Stanford in the first round.
Newlee's mark is even more impressive knowing where ISU was at the start of his tenure. He was hired in 2002 and was ISU's fourth head coach in just nine months, and his first team struggled to a 6-20 finish. From there, his teams were golden, going 20-9, 13-16, 17-13, 17-14, and finally 20-10, advancing to the postseason in four of those final five years. He owns four of the top five marks for wins in a season in school history, and his 54 wins over the last three years is easily the most successful three-year run in school history as well.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure as the Head Coach at Idaho State," said Newlee prior to a press conference on Tuesday. "Taking the team from last to Big Sky Champions, the NCAA Tournament, becoming the all-time winningest coach, the WNIT appearances, all the great victories will always stay with me."
"Having the opportunity to be able to coach with what I believe is the best staff in the country has been amazing. I want to thank all my players through the years for all their dedication and hard work, for making everything we accomplished possible. I leave ISU in much better shape than when I got here."
Newlee, who will enter his 25th year in collegiate coaching in 2008-09, has been a part of 12 20-win seasons over stops as an assistant at Saint Mary's, Texas-San Antonio, Southern Methodist, and Hawai'i, and a three-year stint at Southwestern Junior College. Last season marked his 13th WNIT or NCAA Tournament appearance in his last 16 seasons as a coach.
The 2007-08 season was a landmark one for Newlee and the women's basketball program. On December 1, the Bengals picked up a cornerstone victory with a 76-64 win over UCLA in which ISU never trailed, which was win #78 for Newlee, making him the all-time leader at ISU. He followed that up just nine days later with another Pac-10 win, defeating Oregon State in Corvallis 79-73, giving ISU two Pac-10 wins, equaling the number of Pac-10 wins the program had since its inception in the 1974-75 season.
The 2007-08 season also saw one of Newlee's prized recruits, Natalie Doma, become the first player in school or Big Sky history to be named a National Player of the Year finalist, as she was named a finalist for both the State Farm Wade Trophy, and for the Wooden Award. Doma also became both Idaho State's and the Big Sky Conference's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
In his six seasons, Newlee coached 10 all-conference performers, including two Big Sky Players of the Year, a Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, a Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, and a Big Sky Freshman of the Year. Newlee was also honored by his peers as the 2006 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. He also has coached 22 Big Sky All-Academic honorees, and he should add at least six more to that total when the winter team is released later this month. Also under Newlee, the Bengals had three players earned Honorable Mention Associated Press All-American.
The run-and-gun offense employed during Newlee's time at Idaho State was his trademark. Last season the Bengals shot .832 from the free throw line, the best in NCAA history, regardless of division or gender. In 2006-07, the Bengals ranked third in the NCAA with a 79.5 scoring offense and also ranked third with 8.4 3-point field goals per game. Idaho State ranked in the top 20 in scoring in four of the past five seasons. Newlee also went 2-1 against Idaho while at the helm of the Bengals.
Idaho State will begin an immediate search for a new head coach, the 12th in the program's history. Newlee will be introduced to the Moscow media and Vandal Boosters at an introductory press conference/social on Monday, April 21 at the University Inn/Best Western starting at 5:00 pm Pacific time.
