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(March 5, 2001) WNBA Portland Fire Adds Drew Petersen To Coaching Staff PORTLAND, OR. The Portland Fire today announced they have hired Drew Petersen as an assistant coach for the 2001 season. Having worked for the Fire as both a draft consultant and scout, Petersen's working knowledge of women's basketball has been a valuable source of information for the team since their inception. He will now utilize that knowledge to help cultivate the Fire players' development from the bench. "Drew is extremely knowledgeable about the players in the WNBA as well as collegiate talent and his desire and passion to coach in Portland made hiring him an easy choice," said Head Coach and General Manager Linda Hargrove. "I believe that he will be a very positive member of our staff as we prepare for the 2001 season." After having graduated from Chico State in 1987, Petersen embarked on a career in investment banking for the next five years. His first experience in basketball came in 1991 when he went back to school to get his MBA and began as a volunteer for the Jesuit High School boys' team. From 1991-93, Petersen helped the team that went on to the California Division I State Finals. Receiving his MBA and wanting to try to have a more active role in coaching, Petersen moved to Aspen, CO, for another investment position, but also to assist with the Aspen High School boys team. His three years of experience at Aspen convinced him to settle in a career in basketball and subsequently moved back to California in 1996 to accept a head coaching position for the girls' team at Menlo High School in Northern California. While at Menlo, Petersen began observing, studying, and participating with the Stanford women's basketball program alongside Heidi VanDerveer and credits head coach Tara VanDerveer with having a major impact on his basketball philosophy. In 1997, Heidi VanDerveer took over as head coach of the Sacramento Monarchs and subsequently hired Petersen as an assistant coach for the 1998 season, giving him his first WNBA experience. Since his stint with the Monarchs, he has worked in a variety of capacities for several WNBA teams in addition to the Fire, consulting and scouting in addition to creating a unique database that tracks the performance of professional and collegiate women basketball players spanning the last three years. "Coach Hargrove's knowledge, experience, and inspiration have created a positive and growth-oriented environment within the Fire organization," commented Petersen. "I'm very excited about the opportunity to work with and learn from both Coach Hargrove and Coach Kenlaw while supporting their efforts toward building a successful franchise. I also look forward to contributing my own passion for player development and evaluation to further that objective." [Source: Jill Wiggins, Portland Fire, Director of Communications, at 503-797-9929.] |
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