SPOKANE, Wash. – Connections and relationships.
Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier told her former player Brynna Maxwell that becoming a great coach is all about connections and relationships.
That’s one of many pieces of advice Maxwell plans to take from her former coach into her coaching career at Eastern Washington this upcoming season.
And a connection is what helped Maxwell get her new gig.
“Coach Lisa Fortier is really good friends with Joddie Gleason at Eastern and she put in a really good word for me.”
Now, Brynna will return to the Inland Northwest as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at EWU.
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There’s an obvious learning curve when you trade a jersey for a whistle, but Maxwell said she’s leaning on how the Gonzaga staff shaped her as a guide for how she wants to coach her own players.
“Every coach I’ve had – I want to pull a little bit out of. I think for the Gonzaga staff was the biggest thing they did for me was the way they developed my game,” Maxwell said. “Just how individualized they made it and how much they really cared about that aspect of my game. It wasn’t just about winning games.”
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