Caitlin Collier
Caitlin Collier was the first ever Women's Basketball Head Coach in school history when she took the reins of the program for the 1998 season. Over the course of the next 10 seasons, she put together a 178-95 overall record and made the women's basketball program a nationally recognized team in the NAIA. Collier-coached Oaks teams won Cal Pac championships in 1999-00, 2005-06, and 2006-07 and compiled a 94-33 record in eight seasons in the conference. Arguably the high-water mark of an impressive coaching career was the 2006-07 season in which the team tied the then program record for wins with 25 and also set the record for fewest loses, which still stands, with just three on the season. They were a perfect 16-0 in the conference and the team finished with a 3.29 collective GPA, earning a spot on the WBCA Academic Team list.
"Menlo is an incredibly special place to me," noted Collier. "I was able to really start my career there as a head coach at a young age and build a program from scratch. I had help along the way with some excellent assistants and of course had great, passionate committed players. As an AD I gained a completely different skill set that really reinvigorated my drive and ambition."
Collier coached 21 All-Cal Pac players, three Cal PAC MVPs, two All-Americans and 10 NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athletes. In addition to her duties as Head Women's Basketball Coach, Collier was also appointed the department's Director of Athletics in 2003, a position she held until 2008. Following her time at Menlo, Collier moved to Las Vegas to work as an assistant on the UNLV Women's Basketball Coaching staff where she is now the Associate Head Coach of the highly successful program.Â
Upon receiving news that she was set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame Collier said, "I was surprised, humbled and excited and it instantly bought back memories. Keith [Spataro] has been an incredible AD and a good friend – so to hear the news from him was awesome."
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