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Wendi Willits

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Wendi Wells (née Willits born November 18, 1978) is a girls basketball high school head coach in Shawnee, Oklahoma since 2008. Before starting her head coaching tenure, Willits had 3,345 points while playing high school basketball in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma. With the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team from 1997 to 2001, Willits had 1574 points and set an Arkansas career record with 316 three-pointers. As part of the Razorbacks, Willits and her team reached the final four during the 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and won the 1999 Women's National Invitation Tournament. After joining the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001, Willits and the team won the 2001 WNBA Championship. As an assistant coach, Willits worked for the University of West Georgia and Shawnee High School in the early to late 2000s.

Early life and education

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Wendi Willits was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma on November 18, 1978.[1] During her childhood, Willits started playing basketball as a toddler and grew up in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma.[2] At Fort Cobb-Broxton, Willits played in 128 girls basketball games and scored 3,345 points. During her final year in high school, Willits was named player of the year by The Oklahoman in 1997.[3] For her post-secondary education, Willits went to the University of Arkansas to study exercise physiology.[2]

While at Arkansas from 1997 to 2001, Willits played on the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team.[4] In college tournaments, Willits and the Razorbacks made it to the final four at the 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and won the 1999 Women's National Invitation Tournament.[5][6] During her 131 games with the Razorbacks, Willits had 1574 points overall. Leading up to the 2020-2021 season, Willits was seventh in all-time career points for Arkansas.[7] With 316 three-pointers, Willits has held the Arkansas career record for almost twenty years.[8] She also received the Ed Steitz Award in 1999 for having the highest three point percentage in NCAA Division I schools.[9]

Arkansas statistics

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Source[10]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MIN  Minutes  MPG  Minutes per game
 PTS  Points  PPG  Points per game  RBS  Rebounds  RPG  Rebounds per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS Min MPG Points PPG RBS RPG FG% 3P% FT% APG SPG BPG
1997-98 Arkansas 33 5 622 18.8 223 6.8 66 2.0 34.3% 35.6% 76.7% 1.2 0.7 0.0
1998-99 Arkansas 33 32 1001 30.3 470 14.2 110 3.3 46.0% 46.0% 80.5% 1.6 0.8 0.2
1999-00 Arkansas 32 30 1108 34.6 451 14.1 96 3.0 40.3% 39.7% 85.1% 2.3 0.7 0.3
2000-01 Arkansas 33 30 1056 32 430 13 101 3.1 37.9% 40.5% 83.3% 1.8 0.9 0.2
Career 131 97 3787 39 1574 12 373 2.8 40.1% 41.0% 81.8% 1.7 0.8 0.2

Career

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In 2001, Willits started her WNBA career when she joined the Los Angeles Sparks.[11] During her only season with the Sparks, Willits played in thirteen regular season games and had seventeen points.[12] That season, Willits played in four playoffs games and scored zero points.[13] Of her playoff games, Willits played in the 2001 WNBA Championship where she and the Sparks defeated the Charlotte Sting.[14][15] After being let go by the Sparks, Willits moved to Florida for employment.[16]

After leaving the WNBA, Willits started her assistant coaching tenure with the University of West Georgia in 2003. After leaving for Shawnee High School in 2006, Willits continued her assistant coaching tenure until 2008.[17] In December 2008, Wendi Wells began her girls basketball head coaching experience with Swahnee.[18] During her head coach tenure, Wells won her hundredth game in 2013.[19] Leading up to the 2020-2021 season, Wells had 194 wins and 50 losses with Shawnee.[20]

Personal life

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Wells is married and has one child.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Wendi Willits". The Oklahoman. March 18, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Schroeder, George (March 18, 2001). "Willits is a natural born shooter Fort Cobb star leading Arkansas to NCAA". The Oklahoman. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  3. ^ Soldan, Penny (March 30, 1997). "Who's the Girls Player of the Year? Everyone Knows It's Wendi Willits of Fort Cobb-Broxton". The Oklahoman. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "W. Basketball Individual Records". University of Arkansas. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "Razorbacks Women's Basketball 2020-21 Record Book" (PDF) (Press release). University of Arkansas. December 2020. p. 89. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. ^ University of Arkansas December 2020, p. 114
  7. ^ University of Arkansas December 2020, p. 34
  8. ^ University of Arkansas December 2020, p. 44
  9. ^ "Women's Basketball Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. 2021. p. 18. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  10. ^ "2020-2021 Record Book" (PDF). arkansasrazorbacks.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  11. ^ Gustkey, Earl (May 28, 2001). "Last Year Fuels Motivation". The Los Angeles Times. p. B8.
  12. ^ "Wendi Willits". WNBA. Regular Season Totals. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  13. ^ "Wendi Willits". WNBA. Playoffs Totals. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  14. ^ "Charlotte Sting at Los Angeles Sparks, September 1, 2001". Basketball Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  15. ^ "Sparks take Sting out of WNBA Finals". Arizona Daily Sun. September 1, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  16. ^ a b Buah, Kent (January 2019). "Experience helps Wells coach through every situation". Best of Preps. p. 2. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  17. ^ Fehr, Fred (May 20, 2008). "Three-point cream of crop to head SHS Lady Wolves". The Shawnee News-Star. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  18. ^ King, Brian (December 3, 2008). "Shawnee girls falter down stretch, 31-28". The Shawnee News-Star. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  19. ^ Smith, Jason (January 26, 2013). "Lady Wolves coach Wendi Wells reaches career milestone". The Shawnee-News Star. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "Shawnee High School Girls Basketball / Teams". MaxPreps. Overview. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
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