Holt tries to get CSU women's basketball back on winning track

By Paul Willis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 5, 2008 at 9:17 p.m.

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Photo by Michael G. Seamans / Fort Collins Coloradoan

Kristen Holt, CSU's new women's basketball coach, takes over a once-proud program that has lost its way in recent seasons. Described as "quietly confident" by Rams athletic director Paul Kowalczyk, Holt, 39, was a little-known assistant to former coach Jen Warden.

Photo by Bret Hartman / Greeley Tribune/2007

Jen Warden lost her job March 26 after the Rams - once perennial 20-game winners - went 4-28 last season, including 0-16 during the Mountain West Conference's regular season.

The hiring was more of a surprise than the firing.

If there is such a place below rock bottom, the Colorado State women's basketball team reached it near the end of the 2007-08 season.

A team that had established itself as a perennial 20-game winner at the start of the decade was mired in a 20-game losing streak.

Two improbable wins at the Mountain West Conference tournament weren't enough to save the job of coach Jen Warden, as the Rams' bottom line was an unsightly 4-28 mark that included 0-16 in regular-season conference play.

So Warden's dismissal March 26 hardly was a shocker. But on the same day of her firing, CSU announced little-known assistant Kristen Holt would be taking over.

Many were floored, believing the Rams would undertake an extensive search for a coach. More than a few Rams fans raised an eyebrow that someone from the 4-28 staff would be promoted.

And this is not a knock on Holt. She, in fact, was as shocked as anyone.

"It totally took me by surprise, the day that it happened," said Holt, who indicated she never threw her name out to CSU officials for consideration. "I didn't even know they were going to let Jen go. And when that happened, they asked me, 'Would you take over?' So I never even had time to say, 'Hey, would you consider keeping me?' "

Players were also taken aback. At least, initially.

"I thought they'd go outside," senior guard Kandy Beemer said. "It didn't cross my mind that they'd pick someone from our staff, but it worked out good. If they were going to do it, she's the one person that would work."

CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said of the hiring: "We needed a calming influence after a tumultuous two years. We could ill afford to lose any more student-athletes, and Kristen offered that quietly confident presence. The kids were familiar with her and respected her."

So far, as the Rams embark on a massive rebuilding project after a few seasons rife with failure and ugly off-the-court incidents, things are going great. Players are digging it. Holt is digging it.

"It's something I've always wanted to do, and it's such an awesome opportunity at a place like Colorado State, where they have had success in the past," Holt said. "It's not like you're trying to build something that never existed."

Who is she?

Holt, 39, is laid-back, articulate and affable off the court. According to her players, she's not flighty or unpredictable when in coach mode.

"She's a lot more organized, a lot more even-tempered than the last few," junior forward Juanise Cornell said.

Before arriving in Fort Collins as an assistant last season, Holt spent the previous four seasons as an assistant at Wichita State (the Rams start the regular season against the Shockers on Nov. 15).

The seven years before that, Holt was at Radford, all but the final season (2001-02) as an assistant. That season, she was named interim coach and guided a team picked to finish last in Big South Conference to an 11-16 mark, including 8-6 in conference.

The effort earned Holt honors as conference coach of the year.

With her apprenticeship now finished, Holt quickly is making Rams players realize she is equipped to take over a program.

"Practices seem to go faster because we're working on skills and learning a lot more fundamentals than we did last year," Beemer said. "Everyone's on the same page with the coach, and we know what she wants from us. That's a big difference from last year."

Tumultuous times

Not only has CSU been bad in recent seasons, but the Rams have also been beset with turmoil.

In 2004-05, a player revolt led to the dismissal of coach Chris Denker, three years into a five-year contract.

Denker was following coach Tom Collen, who had guided the Rams to six consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 33-3 campaign in 1998-99.

Compared to the past few sesons, Denker's win totals of 21, 17 and 15 were outstanding.

Warden took over in 2005-06 and went 21-69 in three seasons. Her tenure included an incident in February 2006, when a prank backfired and four players were suspended.

The four players constructed a homemade bomb from household cleaners and a soda bottle and placed it outside the apartment of two other players.

It exploded more ferociously than expected - causing minor property damage but no injuries - and it took the players a while to own up to the deed.

All four players are gone now. Beemer, though, believes the reverberations of the incident still hung over the team last season.

"We just couldn't get it together," Beemer said. "Couldn't jell with each other, couldn't jell with the coach. It just never happened."

Starting from scratch

Holt is prepared for the uphill battle, poised to institute a system comprised of fast breaks, presses and drilling shots from the perimeter.

She and her staff are aiming to recruit players who fit the mold. But Holt has a healthy perspective in that she doesn't expect too much too quickly.

"I've said this many times, that we're going to have successes that are not going to be seen in our win-loss column," Holt said. "It might be things that only we know as a group, things that an outsider may not see."

Cornell, the only returning two-year starter, is sold.

"I came from a high school (California's Bishop Amat) that was an up-tempo, in-your-face type of team, so I feel like I'm going back to my roots," Cornell said.

Freshman forward Meghan

Heimstra wants to shift the talk from 20 losses back to 20 wins and believes the Rams have found the coach to do it.

"Coach Holt and the staff know what they want and they're recruiting toward it," Heimstra said. "I think we can build a program here, and if we start winning some games, I think we'll get some good girls in here."

• November 6, 2008

  12:13 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  wnaegele writes:

  The RPI of the Mountain West Conference women would be greatly helped by a revitalized CSU program...

• November 8, 2008

  12:19 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Buffs writes:

  Won't happen, the University is not committed to their sports teams and under the former AD, there was little support for the coaches. I know firsthand. It will take a long time for CSU Women's Basketball to return to the promiseland so don't hold your breath.

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