ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball program and head coach Mike Bradbury have hired Valerie King as an assistant coach. She spent the last six seasons as Bradbury’s assistant coach at Wright State and was on his staff during his three-year tenure at Morehead State.
“Valerie had a tremendous playing career and brings a great enthusiasm for the game,” Bradbury said. “She has a wealth of knowledge and experience that the players in our Lobo program can use to make their game better.”
King is very familiar with Bradbury’s style of play. Alongside Bradbury at Wright State, the Raiders reached new heights in 2010-11 as WSU played in its first Division I post-season tournament with two games in the Women’s Basketball Invitation and secured the program’s first 20-win season in Division I.
King also brings expertise in outside shooting that helped turn Morehead State into one of the nation’s top three-point shooting teams. In 2009-10, the Eagles led the NCAA Division I in three-pointers made with 10.3 per game. During the 2008-09 campaign, MSU led all NCAA and NAIA teams in three-pointers attempted. King also helped build junior guard Chynna Bozeman into the individual national leader with 3.7 threes made per contest.
“I’m excited to be a part of the UNM Women’s Basketball staff and family,” said King. “I look forward to getting to know our players and getting on the floor with them.”
King was a four-year starter for Cincinnati from 2000-01 through 2003-04 and ended her career as the UC and Conference USA all-time leader in three-pointers with 338. King is also Cincinnati’s all-time career leader in games played (126), three-pointers attempted (847), three-point percentage (.399) and free throw percentage (.866).
King scored 2,156 career points to rank second all-time at Cincinnati and is just one of three Bearcats to score 2,000 or more points in a career. A C-USA All-Decade selection, her point total ranks fourth in league history.
Additionally, King was named First Team All-Conference in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and Second Team All-Conference in 2003-04 and earned C-USA Tournament MVP honors in 2001. She was a five-time Player of the Week honoree during her career and was named Honorable Mention All-America by Basketball Times in 2002. She was signed as a free agent by the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA after her collegiate career and spent a short time playing professionally.
In her four years with the Bearcats, the team appeared in postseason in each of King’s four seasons, including NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003. King was inducted into the schools Athletics Hall of Fame on October 27, 2010.
King, a native of Washington Court House, Ohio, graduated from Cincinnati with a degree in communication and earned a master’s degree from the University of Louisville in sports administration.