University of California Athletics

 CLICK HERE to hear from Coach Gottlieb about Kai

Kai Felton was a recruiting specialist for the Ducks and also focused on coaching their backcourt, including All-Pac-10 and current WNBA player Taylor Lilley and All-Pac-10 and Olympic basketball player Micaela Cocks.

During her time at Oregon, the Ducks were transformed into one of the most potent offenses in the nation, averaging 81.4 points per game in 2009-10. The Ducks earned a spot in the post season for just the second time in the last nine years in 2009-10, advancing to the third round of the WNIT.

Prior to her time in Eugene, Felton spent five years as an assistant coach at the University of Southern California. She had ahand in recruiting seven McDonald's All-Americans in her five years with the Women of Troy, including the nation's top recruiting class according to USA Today and the All-Star Girls Report in 2006. That class included the 2006 co-National Player of the Year, Jacki Gemelos.

On the basketball court, Felton helped develop USC's guards, including Camille LeNoir, an All-Pac-10 second team and Pac-10 All-Tournament team selection, as well as the 2008-09 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Briana Gilbreath. Felton also worked with Shay Murphy, a first team Pac-10 selection and 15th overall pick in the WNBA draft in 2007.

During her five seasons at USC, the Women of Troy compiled a 90-64 record and finished in the top half of the conference in each of those seasons. USC advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament twice (2005 & 2006) and most recently played in the Pac-10 Tournament championship game for the first time in program history.

Felton also supervised the program's academic progress during her tenure, recording the program's highest GPA in the Spring of 2007.

Before joining USC, Felton spent one season at Pepperdine University, helping the Waves earn an invitation to the WNIT with a 17-12 record.

Felton also served as a volunteer assistant coach at California Polytechnic University, Pomona (2002-03) and worked as an assistant coach (2000-02) at Springfield College (Springfield, Mass.) At Springfield, Felton was with the Pride as the program advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2002 NCAA Division III Women's basketball Tournament. Springfield compiled a 49-9 record and claimed two NEWMAC conference championships during her time on the coaching staff, while helping develop conference players of the year in Kelly Thompson (2001) and Becky Kanupka (2002).

As a player, Felton was a standout guard at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Va. During her four years, she set nine school records, including most career three-pointers (216), most three-pointers in a season (66) and most career assists (325). She finished her career ranked No. 3 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,147 points.

She earned her bachelor's degree in biology in 2000 from Randolph-Macon and later attained her master's in physical education/athletic administration from Springfield in 2002.

CLICK HERE to hear from Coach Cottlieb about Daron

Daron Park has spent seven seasons as an NCAA Division I coach with six NCAA Tournament appearances, including three trips to the Elite Eight, and a WNIT bid. Over the course of those seven seasons, Parks' teams have amassed a 70.0 winning percentage (183- 55).

Park's responsibilities at LA Tech included on-the-floor coaching of the Techster post players, serving as the recruiting coordinator, overseeing the operating budget for the program, as well as overseeing scouting reports and game preparations.

 Park was a big reason for Louisiana Tech's return to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years as the Lady Techster associate head coach. During his time at Louisiana Tech, Park worked closely with the Lady Techster post players as Shanavia Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson.

Johnson, 2011 WAC Player of the Year, averaged 21.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a senior. She was on the Wade Trophy Watch List, was an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press and the WBCA, was a first team all-WAC selection and was named to the WAC All-Defensive Team. She was selected by the Connecticut Sun in the third round of the 2011 WNBA draft. Dowdell averaged a double double while ranking in the top 5 in the country in rebounding and earning her second straight WAC Player of the Year award. She was selected in the second round of the 2010 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics.

During his coaching career, he has worked with a number of other high-profile players including Kristi Toliver (All-American, Lieberman Award winner, WNBA 1st round selection), Marissa Coleman (WNBA 1st round), Crystal Langhorne (All-American, WNBA 1st round), Laura Harper (WNBA 1st round), Shona Thorburn (WNBA 1st round) and Kim Smith (WNBA 1st round).

Park came to LA Tech after spending two years as an assistant coach on Brenda Frese's staff at Maryland where he was an integral part of the Terrapins success, helping Maryland to a pair of Elite Eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and an ACC regular season and tournament title.

During his first year at Maryland while head coach Brenda Frese was on leave for part of the season, Park served as acting head coach and led the Terrapins to an 8-1 mark with the lone loss coming in double overtime to No. 3 North Carolina. Included in those eight victories was a road win against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, completing the first sweep of the Blue Devils for the Terps in more than 15 years.

Park was instrumental in helping Maryland earn a pair of Top 5 national rankings, a preseason WNIT Championship, two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and 64 victories, including a 24-4 mark in ACC games.

Prior to his stint at Maryland, Park served as an assistant coach for legendary Utah coach Elaine Elliott from 2004 through 2007 as the Utes won two Mountain West Conference championships and earned two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2006. During his three years at Utah, the Utes won 72 games.

Park also has head coaching experience as he served as the head coach at NAIA Westminster College for four years (2000-04) during which time the program boasted 30 academic all-conference recipients and eight Academic All-Americans. Park began his college coaching career as an assistant at Westminster in 1999.

The Great Falls, Montana native earned his bachelor's degree in health enhancement from Montana State in 1994.

Park and his wife Laura have one daughter, Rylee (10), and one son, Dillon (5).

CLICK HERE to hear from Coach Gottlieb about Charmin

Charmin Smith, who has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach for the Golden Bears, will remain on staff with new head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. Gottlieb and Smith were together on the Bears coaching staff during the 2007-08 season.

Smith became an assistant coach for the California women's basketball team during May of 2007. In her first two seasons in Berkeley, Cal set a school record for wins in a season, finishing both years with 27-7 marks. The Bears also recorded their best-ever Pac-10 record (15-3) and showing (2nd), and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08 and the third round in 2008-09. She was also part of the staff that led the Bears to the 2010 WNIT Championship.

 In her time mentoring the Bear guards, Smith helped Alexis Gray-Lawson twice earn first team All-Pac-10 honors, Sports Illustrated All-American status and two Associated Press All-American honorable mentions as well as the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, an honor bestowed upon the top guard in the country no taller than 5-8. She also guided guard Natasha Vital to honorable mention all-conference and Pac-10 All-Defensive accolades in both 2007-08 and 2008-09. She has worked closely with current Cal guard Eliza Pierre, helping her earn Pac-10 All-Defensive honors each of her first two seasons in the conference.

Smith has also been a key element in Cal's recruiting success. In the last three years, Cal has signed back-to-back-to-back top-10-ranked recruiting classes that have included eight McDonald's High School All-Americans, five WBCA High School All-Americans, and eight Parade Magazine All-Americans.

Smith came to Cal after serving as an assistant coach for three seasons with the Cardinal and spending six years playing professionally. During Smith's tenure as an assistant at Stanford, the Cardinal posted an 87-16 (.845) record and made a pair of NCAA quarterfinal appearances. In addition to her duties with recruiting, scouting and player development, Smith was heavily involved in various community service activities, including a program to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

As a coach at Stanford, Smith played an integral role in the development of three of the Pac-10's top posts - Brooke Smith, Jayne Appel and Kristen Newlin - and in the spring, she switched her focus to working with the Cardinal guards, including two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year Candice Wiggins.

Smith was a star player for Stanford from 1993-97, helping the Cardinal to three NCAA Final Fours, as well as three Pac-10 titles. Following her playing career, she joined the professional ranks in the ABL from 1997-98 as a member of the Portland Power. She also played three years in the WNBA with the Seattle Storm and the Minnesota Lynx and one year in the Swedish Basketball League.

Smith began her coaching career in 2003 as an assistant coach at Boston College, helping the Eagles to one of their most successful seasons in school history. During her lone season, Boston College won its first Big East title and received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Mideast Regional semifinals.

In addition to her on-court experiences, Smith worked for two seasons as a production assistant and editor with NBA Entertainment, where she aided in the production of several national NBA broadcasts.

A four-year letterwinner at Stanford, Smith earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the school. The St. Louis, Mo., native was a two-time recipient of the Coaches' Award (1994, 1997) and was also named the team's Most Improved Player in 1995.  

CLICK HERE to hear from Coach Gottlieb about Araceli

Araceli Gil has spent the last three seasons working as Gottlieb's Director of Basketball Operations at UC Santa Barbara. She also played three seasons as a point guard for the University of Richmond while Gottlieb was an assistant coach for the Spiders.

An outstanding leader on the court, Gil posted career averages of 7.8 points and 2.7 assists in four seasons with the Spiders and was named Atlantic 10 Honorable Mention after averaging 9.3 points and 3.4 assists as a senior in 2005-06. A two-time All-Santa Barbara County selection, Gil tied a Richmond record by hitting seven three-pointers as a senior against Rhode Island

A Santa Barbara native, Gil earned her bachelor's degree in business administration while at Richmond and before coming to UCSB, worked for Keiter, Stephens, Hurst, Gary & Shreaves, a Richmond accounting firm. Extremely organized and detail-oriented, Gil will organize team travel and camps, as well as serving as the program's alumni liaison and work actively with the Triple Threat Booster Club.