After three seasons as an assistant coach for the Trojans, Jay Franco has been named the head women's basketball coach at Everett Community College and will become just the 9th head coach in the program's 45 year history. The program has a long history of success, qualifying for the NWAC playoffs five times in the last 8 years and many players transferring on to play at the next level.
In Franco's tenure as an assistant, four players have gone on to play at four year universities. Sydney VanNess, ThuyVi Tran, and Mikail Montez who nearly set the all-time rebounding record at EvCC all went on to play at Evergreen State, while Kinslee Gallatin played at Northwest University. This past season another athlete found much success, Baylor Thomas who led the NWAC in scoring, averaging 22.9 points per game which ranks 4th all-time at EvCC.
"Jay has earned this opportunity, said athletic director Garet Studer. He is incredibly hungry and motivated to lead this program into becoming one of the premier women's basketball programs in the conference. His work ethic along with his ability to connect and establish trust with the student athletes will guide him in this new role."
In addition to his time on the women's basketball staff, Franco has served as the strength and conditioning coach for many of the EvCC athletic teams including men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, and volleyball. Head Volleyball Coach, Whitney Williams credits a lot of her programs successes over the past two seasons to the physical condition her athletes are in with Franco's programming.
"I am incredibly grateful and excited to take on this opportunity as the head coach, said Franco. I am looking forward to building a culture that embodies what it means to me to be a student athlete here at EVCC. Being a part of the college over the last few years has been a wonderful experience for me and all the relationships that I have been able to build with staff, students, athletes and the surrounding community. It is important to me to be an advocate for women's sports and I consider myself incredibly lucky that this is the place I get to do that in."
Franco graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology with a specialization in exercise science. He is also a NASM licensed personal trainer.