A shockwave hit Idaho last week when head women’s basketball coach Jon Newlee and the University of Idaho agreed to mutually part ways. This announcement came exactly one month after the Vandals’ post-season loss to Sacramento State.
Newlee served as the head coach for 15 years, winning two regular season championships and three tournament championships. Two of those championships were in the Western Athletic Conference with the other being in the Big Sky. He also coached 33 all-conference selections, 14 all-tournament selections, four all-Americans, three conference tournament MVPs and three conference players of the year.
During his tenure, he accumulated the most wins in all of Idaho basketball, going 257-213. His winning percentage of .546 is the third best in Idaho women’s basketball history. Pat Dobratz’s .784 and Tara VanDerveer’s .750 are the two above him.
In his first four seasons, Newlee was never able to break .500 overall, but he reached it in conference play twice. From his fifth season to his last, he only landed below .500 overall twice. The first was the 2014-15 season, and the second was last season. His most successful season was 2013-14 when he won the WAC regular season and tournament championship. His least successful season came in 2009-10 when he went 11-20 overall and 8-8 in conference play.
Of the top-10 best scorers in Idaho history, Newlee coached six of them – Beyonce Bea is not listed in the record books yet, but her 1,938 points are tied for third. The five that no longer play college basketball have gone on to have successful careers and lives.
Mikayla Ferenz is the best scorer in Idaho and Big Sky women’s basketball history with 2,466 points. She went pro, coached women’s basketball at Whitman, then returned to Luxembourg to continue her professional playing career.
Taylor Pierce finished her Idaho career with 1,934 points. She now serves as an assistant coach for Idaho women’s basketball.
Stacey Barr put up 1,896 points at UI and has since taken her talents Down Under. In 2016, she was drafted to the Australian Football League 68th overall by Freemantle. During her time in the AFL, she also played for five professional basketball teams overseas. After being delisted by Freemantle in 2018, she stuck with basketball, eventually landing a position with the Warwick Senators in Perth, Australia. In 2022, she was named the NBL1 West MVP and helped the Senators win their second championship in history as they beat the Willetton Tigers 87-61.
Alyssa Charlston spent time with Americale Steinsel in Luxembourg after scoring 1,587 points for the Vandals. She now works as a sports anchor for Fox 13 Seattle.
After Bea is put in the books, Geraldine ‘Geri’ McCorkell will sit at tenth on the all-time scoring record list with 1,552 points. There isn’t much known about what McCorkell is doing now, but she signed with the Norrköping Dolphins in Sweden after four years with the Vandals.
Although Bea has secured a spot as the third best scorer in Idaho history, sitting 529 points from first with a year still to play, it’s unknown if she’ll ultimately claim the top spot. One week after it was announced that Newlee was no longer the head coach, Bea entered the transfer portal. She hasn’t made a formal announcement on social media on if she is open to returning or not.
Three days before Bea entered the portal, Rosa Smith stepped in. However, Smith posted to Twitter saying, “while still open to staying at Idaho, I am exploring where I can best grow as a student athlete.” Smith put up 221 points, 77 assists, 67 rebounds and 51 free throws in 842 minutes over 24 games last season.
Following the announcement of his departure, the former coach went to Twitter to thank the University of Idaho and all the players that he’s had the pleasure of coaching.
With the departure of Newlee, the search for a new head coach has started. Idaho has retained Bowlsby Sports Advisors, the firm that helped get UI men’s basketball coach Alex Pribble, to assist with the national search.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25