Simon, Blackburn Earn Spots in WBCA Program

Lincoln – Nebraska seniors Maddie Simon and Rachel Blackburn will both be members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) “So You Want To Be A Coach” program at the 2019 WBCA Convention in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Fla., April 3-5.

Simon and Blackburn will be members of the 17th annual “So You Want To Be A Coach” program and will participate in the three-day workshop in Tampa with speakers provided by WeCoach. The program is designed to increase the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball, increase the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduce female basketball players to coaches and administrators, and raise awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women’s basketball.

Only 60 players across all divisions of college basketball claimed spots in the competitive selection process that is part of the “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. Nebraska is the only school in the country with two participants in the program, while Simon and Blackburn are two of only five players from the Big Ten Conference (Tania Davis, Iowa; Khadaizha Sanders, Rutgers; Makayla Waterman, Ohio State) to be chosen for the 2019 program.

Simon, a 6-2 senior forward from Lincoln Pius X High School, has been a four-year contributor on the court. She has scored more than 600 points and grabbed more than 300 rebounds while playing in 96 career games with 49 starts. In 2017-18, Simon was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten Conference while playing her first full season at power forward. She spent a majority of her first two seasons on the wing for the Huskers. Simon helped the 2018 Huskers to 21 wins, a top-four finish in the Big Ten Conference, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Blackburn, a 6-3 forward from Leavenworth, Kan., had her Nebraska playing career cut short by injuries but she has continued to help the Huskers. Although she is not active on the roster in 2018-19, Blackburn continues to provide leadership to the Huskers. In 2017-18, she played in 29 games in her third season in the Husker program, including an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Blackburn came to the Huskers from Leavenworth High School and started Nebraska’s first nine games as a true freshman before succumbing to chronic knee pain. She underwent multiple offseason surgeries and redshirted in 2016-17.

It marks the second consecutive year under Head Coach Amy Williams that Nebraska has sent two seniors into the “So You Want To Be A Coach Program.” Last season, Jasmine Cincore and Emily Wood participated in the WBCA program and immediately landed jobs. Wood (now Wacker) is the Director of Operations at Omaha, while Cincore is an Assistant Coach at Murray State College (NJCAA) in Oklahoma.

2019 "So You Want To Be A Coach" Participants

Name	Institution	Division
Erica Balman	Monmouth University	NCAA I
Ali Bettencourt	Univ. of Wisconsin-Parkside	NCAA II
Briana Betz-White	Loyola University	NCAA I
Morgan Birmelin	DeSales University	NCAA III
Rachel Blackburn	Univ. of Nebraska	NCAA I
Anna Lee Bollinger	Brevard College	NCAA III
Megan Brown	Univ. of Southern Mississippi	NCAA I
Taje Burston	Coppin State University	NCAA I
Chrijaun Carter	McPherson College	NAIA
Princess Davis	Texas A&M Univ.- Commerce	NCAA II
Tania Davis	Univ. of Iowa	NCAA I
Danielle Edwards	Clemson University	NCAA I
Christina Ekhomu	Northern Illinois University	NCAA II
Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio	Nichols College	NCAA III
Sierra Gerald	University of Bridgeport	NCAA II
Destiny Graham	University of Arizona	NCAA I
Kelly Guarino	NJ Institute of Technology	NCAA 1
Meredith Hamlet	Valparaiso University	NCAA I
Catherine Harrison	Middlebury College	NCAA III
Felecity Haven	University of Mount Olive	NCAA II
Kaity Healy	Seton Hall	NCAA I
Jace Henderson	University of Montana	NCAA I
Kaitlin Hogan	Birmingham Southern College	NCAA III
Rosemary Ilang	Longwood University	NCAA I
Hannah Johnson	University of Washington	NCAA I
Tessa Johnston	Emory & Henry College	NCAA III
Becca Jonas	Drake University	NCAA I
Paris Jones	Univ. of California- Santa Barbara	NCAA I
Cy Lippold	Dartmouth College	NCAA I
Mikayla Lopez	Augustana College	NCAA III
Olivia Luu	William Jessup University	NAIA
Darby Maggard	Belmont University	NCAA I
Ariel Massengale	University of Mississippi	NCAA I
Shannon Mathis	University of Texas at Dallas	NCAA III
MacKenzi Matthews	Baldwin Wallace University	NCAA III
Aryn McClure	Quinnipiac University	NCAA I
Bailey McDevitt	Linfield College	NCAA III
Francesca Minali	Georgia State University	NCAA I
Maci Morris	University of Kentucky	NCAA I
Abby Nakfoor	Ferris State University	NCAA II
Kacie O’Connor	Wayne State College	NCAA II
Amy Okonkwo	Texas Christian University	NCAA I
Julie Raeder	Cardinal Stritch University	NAIA
Khadaizha Sanders	Rutgers University	NCAA I
Laramie Schwenke	Idaho State University	NCAA I
Shandricka Sessom	University of Mississippi	NCAA I
Harper Sheets	Hastings College	NAIA
Madeline Simon	University of Nebraska	NCAA I
Jasmine Sina	St. John's University	NCAA I
Kennedi Thompson	Binghamton University	NCAA I
Ali Trani	Univ. of North Carolina at Asheville	NCAA I
Alexis Uffman	Columbia College (MD)	NAIA
Taylor Vasa	Briar Cliff University	NAIA
Emily Vogelpohl	Wright State University	NCAA I
Destinee Walker	Radford University	NCAA I
Jasmyn Walker	Western Michigan University	NCAA I
Makayla Waterman	Ohio State University	NCAA I
Harlyn Wyatt	Tulane University	NCAA I
Isis Young	Syracuse University	NCAA I
Emily Ziese	Peru State College	NAIA