Northwest Notes: Jan. 25, 2024
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 years, 7 months AGO
Fortier, Gleason named to
midseason Coach of the Year list
Gonzaga women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier and Eastern Washington coach Joddie Gleason were named to the 10-person midseason watch list for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.
This is the inaugural season of the award, and the award is named after the former Harvard head coach. This year's watch list includes coaches from eight conferences.
In her 10th season, Fortier has led Gonzaga to an 18-2 start on the year including the highest ranked win in program history over No. 3 Stanford. The Zags are currently 5-0 in West Coast Conference play and rank top 16 in the NET. Fortier currently sits at 251-61 in her career. Among active Division I coaches, she is fifth in winning percentage at 80.4%.
With an undefeated conference record and nine-straight wins, Gleason is getting noticed at a national level.
In her third season leading Eastern, Gleason has the Eagles on top of the Big Sky Conference standings with a 5-0 record in conference and 15-3 overall. EWU has a plus-16.9 scoring margin and allows a conference-low 55.1 points per game.
Eastern Washington names
Sanders defensive coordinator
Eastern Washington announced Eric Sanders was elevated to defensive coordinator. Sanders was originally hired by head coach Aaron Best before the 2023 season as the team’s linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator.
Sanders boasts a resume that includes stops in both college and the NFL. He served as Inside Linebackers Coach at Stanford from 2020-22, coaching All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention Curtis Robinson. During the 2019 NFL season, he worked as a defensive assistant for the New York Jets, focusing on defensive backs.
He replaces Jeff Copp, who held the same position for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.