July 19, 2001
Chicago, Ill. - UIC Head Women's Basketball Coach Tim Eatman rounded out his staff for the upcoming 2001-02 season, hiring Brad West and Malikah Willis as assistant coaches and adding LaTonia Foster as his basketball operations intern.
West, who will take over as the Flames' recruiting coordinator and will work with the team's guards, joins Eatman's staff after spending the last six seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Troy State University in Troy, Ala. During his tenure with the Trojans, West helped lead the team to four winning seasons, including the 1997 campaign in which Troy State captured the Mid-Continent Conference crown and made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
"Brad will bring tremendous energy and enthusiasm to the program," Eatman said. "He will be in charge of our recruiting and I'm really looking forward to working with him."
Willis, a 1998 graduate of the University of Iowa where she was recruited by Eatman to play for the Hawkeyes, comes to UIC after a professional basketball career which took her to Finland, Poland and most recently with Santa Maria in Sao Paulo, Brazil. With the Flames, she will assist with the team's scouting efforts while working with the post players.
"Being a former All-American and professional player, Malikah will bring a wealth of experience to the floor for our student-athletes," Eatman remarked. "She will not only help our athletes develop as good basketball players, but special people as well."
Foster, a Chicago native, joins the Flames as the basketball operations intern. The former Marshall High School graduate and basketball star at the University of Iowa had a prominent professional career, playing first for Bologna, Italy in the European Professional League (1993-97), before returning home to play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the Phoenix Mercury (1997-2000).
"Toni was the valedictorian of her class at Marshall, a Kodak All-American at Iowa and played professionally for the Phoenix Mercury," Eatman said. "What better ambassador to come back to Chicago and represent this university."
UIC is coming off a 10-19 season in which it finished fifth in the league while advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament. Eatman's crew returns just two starters to the lineup this year, but his roster is bolstered by his latest recruiting class which was ranked 19th in the country by the All-Star Girls Report Newsletter.
