Alum is head coach of USA basketball team

May 15, 2009
Used with permission from Wingate University Athletic Department

Colorado Springs, Colo.----Wingate University's (N.C.) Barbara Nelson, a 1985 graduate of PC, was named head coach of the 2009 USA Basketball Women's U16 National Team, USA Basketball announced.

Mike Armstrong of Perry Meridian (Ind.) High School and Dorena Bingham of Team Alaska AAU will serve as assistant coaches. The coaching selections were made by the USA Basketball Women's Developmental National Team Committee and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.

"For the first-ever FIBA Americas U16 Championship, it is important to assemble a coaching staff with experience leading young players to success; the USA Basketball's Women's Developmental Committee has certainly done that," USA Basketball executive director Jim Tooley says. "This trio of coaches brings vast coaching experience from various levels. We look forward to great things as we head into this new international competition."

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to coach with USA Basketball," Nelson says. "When you watch the Olympics and see the pride the athletes have in representing the USA, you realize how special it is to wear the red, white and blue and travel to represent your country. I'm extremely honored and extremely humbled."

"This has to be the number one opportunity a coach can have to represent your university and also your nation," Nelson acknowledges. "Patriotic pride runs very deep in my heart and getting this opportunity to wear USA Basketball on my chest and walk into an arena as an ambassador of my country is thrilling."

The 2009 USA Basketball Women's U16 National Team will compete in the inaugural FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women, with dates and the sites for the championship to be announced. The tournament will feature eight U16 national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, with the top three finishing teams qualifying for the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.

Trials to select the 12-member USA team will be held May 28-31 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Following trials, the Women's Developmental Committee will select the 12-member roster. The team will remain in Colorado Springs through the morning of Thursday, June 4 for training camp. The USA squad will reassemble prior to the start of the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Players eligible for the U16 National Team must be U.S. citizens born on or after Jan. 1, 1993.

The USA Basketball Women's Development National Team Committee is chaired by Carol Callan (Women's National Team Director, USA Basketball) in a non-voting position and includes NFHS members Jill Meerman (Decatur Central High School, Ind.) and Sue Phillips (Archbishop Mitty High School, Calif.); AAU appointees Jody Patrick (Vogues AAU, Va.) and Brian Robinson (Stealers AAU, N.C.); and athlete representative Jamie Carey (head coach, Legacy High School, Colo.), a member of the 2003 USA Pan American Games Team. 

Barbara Nelson

Barbara Nelson is coaching her first USA Basketball team. In two seasons as head coach at Wingate University (2007-08 to present), Nelson has led the Bulldogs to a 44-18 overall record (.710 winning percentage).

Nelson's first year with the Bulldogs resulted in a 26-8 record, a South Atlantic Conference tournament title, an NCAA Division II regional tournament title, an NCAA Division II Elite Eight finish and a number 10 national ranking in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Wingate compiled an 18-10 ledger during the most recent 2008-09 season.

Prior to joining the Wingate family, Nelson spent 21 seasons (1986-87 through 2006-07) as the head coach at Providence Day School in Charlotte, N.C. While serving as head coach for the Chargers, she compiled a 437-176 overall record (.713 winning percentage) and earned seven North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) state championships and nine NCISAA conference titles.

In 2007, she recorded a career best 30-4 record and collected a state title and a conference championship. For her efforts, Nelson was honored with her fourth Charlotte Observer Girl's Basketball Coach of the Year award.

Additionally, Nelson coached AAU basketball for boys and girls from 1986 until 2007. She has coached the Charlotte Royals (boys), Charlotte Monarchs, Carolina Comets and N.C. Flight. She also spent two years as a floor coach for the WNBA Charlotte Sting during open and free-agent tryouts.

Nelson is a 12-year participant in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association; she was a high school All-American selection committee member in 2006-07. She has been a Nike Basketball Camp Director from 1999 to the present. The WBCA appointed her to the USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches to vote on the NCAA Division II weekly top 25 coaches' poll in 2007-08.

Nelson is a graduate of Presbyterian College with a B.S. degree in Psychology. A four-year letter winner in basketball for the Blue Hose, Nelson earned the Bob Waters Award from her alma mater in 2008. The Waters Award is presented to graduates of Presbyterian College who have exhibited outstanding leadership and service as coaches and who personify the qualities possessed by this distinguished alumnus.          

Mike Armstrong

Armstrong returns to the USA sideline for a second time, having guided the USA North Team to a 5-0 record and gold medal in the 2002 USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival.

"I am extremely honored and humbled by my selection to coach for USA Basketball," Armstrong says. "I see this as an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent my school, our team and my country in an international competition."

In 23 seasons (1986-87 to present) as head coach at Perry Meridian High School, Armstrong has compiled a 324-191 overall record (.629 winning percentage). He led his 2008-09 Falcon squad to a 21-5 record, a Conference Indiana championship and an Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sectional title.

Overall, Armstrong has captured three Marion County Tournament championships (1995, 1996, 1997); six conference championships (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2009); six IHSAA sectional titles (1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009); two IHSAA regional championships (1997, 2003); one IHSAA semi-state championship (2003); and a class 4A state runner-up finish in 2003.

The high school coach of 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's National Team member Katie Douglas (Indiana Fever), Armstrong was selected as a 1997 Indiana All-Star Coach.

Armstrong began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Roncalli High School (Ind.) for two seasons (1982-84), and then spent two seasons (1984-86) at Cathedral High School (Ind.).

A 1978 graduate of Perry Meridian, Armstrong also serves as the school's assistant athletic director and girls' cross country coach. He received his bachelor's degree from Indiana State University in 1982, where he also competed in cross county and track and field. 

Dorena Bingham

Bingham will report for her third coaching stint with USA Basketball in 2009. She previously acted as a USA Women's U18 National Team Trials court coach in 2006. Also, she helped lead the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival West Team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal as an assistant coach in 2004.

"It is both an honor and a great responsibility to be chosen as an assistant coach for an exceptional coaching staff and an elite group of young ladies to help enhance their talents and skills," Bingham asserts. "The chance to empower female athletes and have an impact on their development is an amazing opportunity."

The head coach of Team Alaska AAU since 1991, Bingham has helped 35 of her former AAU players reach NCAA Division I, II or NAIA programs. In recognition of her remarkable career, she was nominated for the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Bingham was the head girl's basketball coach at East Anchorage High School for 14 seasons (1994-95 to 2007-08). After taking the reigns of her program in 1994, Bingham built a basketball empire in Alaska. Her teams won three consecutive Alaska state championships from 1999-00 through the 2001-02 campaign, while compiling an overall record of 280-104 (.729 winning percentage).

In addition to three state titles, Bingham guided her teams to a total of 10 state tournament appearances, including nine straight from 1994-95 through 2002-03. East Anchorage's postseason runs included two runner-up finishes (1995 and 1996), one third-place finish (1997), three fourth-place finishes (1998, 1999 and 2003) and one seventh-place finish (2006). She also helped her squads capture seven Region IV championships.

Bingham was named the Alaska State Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2002, the Alaska Region IV Coach of the Year in 1995 and honored as a 2006 ConocoPhillips Healthy Futures Local Fitness Champion. She also received the "Light Hope Award" in 2003, presented by the Office of Public Advocacy for dedication to coaching and community.

Bingham received her Bachelor of Education degree from Seattle University in 1985 and her Masters of Arts in teaching from Alaska Pacific University in 1990.

In the fall of 2009, Bingham will begin her 25th year as an educator. She is currently teaching at Wendler Middle School and as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Posted by Stacy Dyer '96
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