 Head Coach Betsy Specketer
Betsy Specketer heads into her 14th year as head coach at Salt Lake Community College with a 293-129 overall record; seven wins shy of 300 for her career. Specketer thrives on “doing the right things right.” That she has done, and continues to do as she heads into the 2009-10 season optimistic for the Bruins to be in the mix come mid-March. The 2009 team finished with a record of 17-15 placing them fourth in the Scenic West Conference. Sophomore Nicole Brady was named 1st team All Region as well as NJCAA All-American honorable mention and WBCA All-American honorable mention. Specketer began her career at SLCC as an assistant from 1994-1996 under then-head coach Monica Starrett. After one year as interim coach, she moved into her current position, taking over the reins of an already successful program. Maintaining that success is what Specketer has done as she has guided her teams to two Scenic West Athletic Conference championships, two Region 18 Tournament Championships, four Region 18 Tournament runner-up finishes, three 2nd place and five 3rd place SWAC finishes. In 2005-2006 she guided the Bruins to their first ever NJCAA tournament appearance and a 12th place finish. This past season, she led the Bruins to a repeat National Tournament appearance and an Elite Eight finish. Specketer has coached fourteen 1st Team All-Conference players, fifteen 2nd Team All-Conference players, nine NJCAA All-Americans, three SWAC Conference MVPs, and six WBCA All-Americans. On top of her team’s successes, Specketer garnered the Region 18 Coach of the Year award in 1996-1997, 2001-2002, and 2006-07, a WBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year in 2000-2001 and an NJCAA District M Coach of the Year in 2005-06 and 2006-07. During her tenure at SLCC her teams have shown as much commitment in the classroom as they have on the court. Not only are her teams’ graduation records enviable, but their grades are as well. Every semester for nine consecutive years, SLCC Women’s Basketball has had a team grade point average above 3.00 on a 4.00 scale. Seven of her teams have finished as one of the top ten Academic teams in the nation in the National Junior College Athletic Association and eight of her teams have finished in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top Ten. Two of her teams (1999-2000, 2002-2003) were named as the WBCA Academic Team of the year, finishing with the nation’s top cumulative team GPA. Star players have been star scholars as well. Over the last nine years, 22 players have been recognized as Academic All-Americans, 20 players have been recognized as Distinguished Academic All-Americans, and 60 players have been named to the Scenic West Athletic Conference All-Academic team. Specketer, originally from Havana, Illinois, played basketball and softball at Illinois State University in Normal, IL, earning her bachelor’s degree in 1981. She later earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from ISU in 1991. |
 Assistant Coach Shelley Jarrard
Shelley Jarrard enters into her first season as the assistant coach at Salt Lake. Jarrard’s responsibilities involve a variety of areas within the Bruin program. As recruiting coordinator, she is responsible for all on and off-campus recruitment of prospective student-athletes. In addition, she is responsible for the on-court development of the perimeter players and assists in coordinating the Bruin’s offense and defense, as well as scouting and film breakdown.
In addition to her coaching responsibilities, she also serves as the Academic Advisor for the entire Bruin Athletic program. In this role, she is available to every SLCC student-athlete, nearly 100 total, to assist them with career counseling and choice of major, class scheduling, tutoring and study sessions, eligibility, graduation requirements, and transfer information. She has an extensive background that includes over 10 years of playing and coaching at the collegiate level. Most recently from 2004-2006 she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Kansas State University. Prior to Kansas State Jarrard spent 10 years at the University of Utah as an assistant coach. While with the Ute’s she helped the team advance to the NCAA Tournament seven times and had 6 All-Americans. She earned her bachelor’s degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt in 1993. While playing for the Commodores she finished with 1,003 points scored and was team MVP in 1992. She currently resides in Salt Lake City.
|
