Portland State head women's basketball coach Sherri Murrell announced the hiring of Kate Benz to her coaching staff on August 5, 2009. The 2010-11 season will be her second on the Park Blocks.
In her first season with the program, Benz helped coach the Viking post players and saw two of her players, Erin Yankus and Katy Wade, rank in the top 14 in the Big Sky in rebounding. Wade also set a new school record with 68 blocked shots while ranking 32nd nationally in blocked shots per game.
Benz was a two-time honorable mention All-Pac-10 forward at Washington State, where she graduated with a degrees in communication and history in 2007. Benz garnered Pac-10 All-Academic first team honors in each of her final three seasons and left Pullman with a 3.82 grade point average.
"It's great to be back on the court with Kate. I could not pass on the opportunity to hire a former player who brings such amazing qualities to our program here at PSU," said Murrell at the time of the hiring.
"I love that she is from Portland, and her energy and knowledge will help us continue recruiting great Northwest talent."
Murrell and Benz have a long history, dating back to when Murrell coached Benz at Washington State from 2003-07.
After a standout prep career at Central Catholic High School where she was the Mt. Hood Conference Player of the Year and a first team all-state selection as a senior, Benz went on to become the all-time leading rebounder in Washington State women's basketball history. She became the first Cougar to lead the Pac-10 in rebounding when she did so in 2005 and 2006. She averaged over eight rebounds per game in her career and tallied over 1,000 points to finish 11th on the school's all-time scoring chart.
Since graduating from Washington State, Benz has been working as an online producer at a news station in Austin, Texas. This will be her first coaching job.
"I'm thrilled to have this opportunity from Coach Murrell," said Benz when she was hired. "I don't know if I would have felt as excited or as comfortable if I was going to be working for someone that wasn't my college coach. I really look forward to being a part of the Portland State staff and using my experience as a former player to help out the team."
Benz is serving as the graduate assistant at Portland State while she pursues a Master's degree in writing.
