A few days into her new job, Morgan Valley welcomed a pair of visitors to her office.
Graduating senior Breanna Workman gave Valley a big hug, while JaLea Bennett talked about her final exam in sign language class.
It hasn’t taken long for the Arizona Wildcats’ newest assistant coach to develop a connection with the players. Valley’s street cred helps: She played for UConn from 2000-04, where she won three national championship and played in four Final Fours. Her Huskies teams went a combined 139-8 during Valley’s four years.
Now she’ll try to help Arizona, which went 14-16 in coach Adia Barnes’ first season. Valley replaces Kelly Rae Finley, who left last month for a job at Florida.
“Morgan has been on teams that reach the goal — the Final Four — and she knows what it takes,” said Sue Bird, former UConn teammate who plays for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. “Like anything else in life: I can tell you what it’s like to drive a car, but until you experience it, you don’t really know. Adia is getting a good basketball mind.”
Valley started her coaching career working as a student assistant for UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who has called her one of the best young assistant coaches in the country.
From UConn, she moved on to Holy Cross, New Hampshire, Towson, UMass, Virginia Tech and eventually Washington. The UA hired her away from UW last month as part of a strange shuffle. Washington coach Mike Neighbors left for Arkansas, and both Valley and Barnes were believed to be candidates to replace him. UW hired Long Beach State’s Jody Wynn instead.
Valley has developed a reputation for player development. At UMass she coached Jasmine Watson, who played her way into the school’s record books in 14 different categories. Valley was also instrumental in Chantel Osahor’s growth: The Washington forward went from sixth man as a freshman to the NCAA’s rebounds leader as a senior.
“Morgan relates well with players, but she will call them out,” said Barnes. “Players respect that when they see that improvement, when you make them better on the floor.”
Valley says playing and working at UConn had a big impact on her coaching style. Her travels since — Arizona is her seventh school in 12 years — have shown Valley that the UConn way is just one approach.
“I’ve worked at places where we didn’t do scouts and practiced Monday through Saturday with Sunday off,” Valley said. “Other places were stricter. I’ve learned from every single coach I’ve worked with. From Mike Neighbors, I learned how his unique style can be successful. My dad always taught me to take a little from everyone .”
Valley suffered a spate of injuries in college, which sent her to the bench. The new perspective helped her see the court differently. That, coupled with her work ethic and reputation for being a good teammate, practically made her a coach-in-waiting.
“Looking back, it’s not surprising she’s a coach,” Bird said. “Unfortunately, Morgan had a lot of injuries and was on the bench watching a lot. I can tell you from my experience when you are in the game and playing you are feeling it. It’s a different perspective on the bench. You see it like the coaches see it. This helped her in the long-term, as she’s done a tremendous job coaching. She was a great teammate. She was an excellent passer, she saw the floor and was always making her teammates better.”
Valley’s best quality? Her loyalty.
“Morgan is all about people and relationships, evidenced by the fact that she still sends out a happy-birthday text to all the people that she went to school with,” UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey said. “She also sends out texts to remind her former teammates about the coaching staff’s birthdays and I know this because she accidentally sent me a reminder text about my birthday.”
Added Bird: “She shows up as a friend, a teammate, and a coach. Now, for me it’s her friendship. Morgan and I have lived in the same neighborhood the past few years in Seattle. I know I can count on her. I travel a lot and one time I had an event to go to and I forgot to pack my shoes. I was wearing a dress and needed a specific pair of heels. I called her and no questions asked, she went to my house and got my shoes.
“And she’s the same way with her players. I saw her as a coach the last few years and if (former Washington star) Kelsey Plum called and asked her to work out at 7 a.m., she was there. And, if another player wanted to work out at noon or 8 p.m., Morgan was always there for them.”
Now she’ll be there for Barnes and Arizona, which is looking to make a major leap under their young head coach.
“I’m going to give this place all I have,” she said. “Arizona had a good year recruiting and the team played different this year when UW played against them. I want to help and do whatever Adia needs me to do. I think the sky is the limit with this program.”
