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UL Welcomes Ten New Staff Members
UL Welcomes Ten New Staff Members
Released 8/16/2007 Courtesy RaginCajuns.com
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LAFAYETTE – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns Director of Athletics David Walker announced the addition of Scott Farmer as Associate Athletics Director Thursday. In addition to Farmer, Walker hired nine other staff members throughout the department. All hirings are pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.
Farmer joins the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics Department from Sun Belt Conference rival Troy University where he served as Senior Associate Athletic Director. While at Troy, Farmer oversaw the internal operations of the athletics department, including the oversight of sport programs, support staff and business office.
He was also in charge of scheduling, managing budgets and was heavily involved in long-range and strategic planning for Troy Athletics.
Prior to arriving at Troy in 1999, Farmer spent 12 years at Georgia Southern, first as the swim coach and, later, as Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Services.
Farmer caps off a busy summer for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics as Walker also announced the arrival of nine additional staff members – athletic trainers Victoria du Preez and Stefanie Rodgers; Assistant AD for Compliance Jessica Clarke; assistant softball coach Joy Webre; Assistant Sports Information Director Chris Yandle; assistant track and field coach Paula Ogunbanjo; assistant men’s basketball coach Jason Steadman; assistant women’s basketball coaches Paula Lee and Liza Whittington.
By far, Assistant Director of Athletics for Athletic Training John Porche had the busiest summer in the department, hiring two assistant athletic trainers – Victoria du Preez and Stefanie Rodgers.
Du Preez will work directly with the women’s basketball and men’s and women’s tennis teams, while assisting with football and men’s and women’s track. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from Nebraska-Kearney in 2005 and earned her Master of Science degree in sports administration from Northwestern State in 2007.
Rodgers’ addition was made possible by the Friends of Athletic Training. She will serve as the athletic trainer for the volleyball and softball programs. Rodgers earned her Bachelor of Science degree from West Florida in 2005 and, like du Preez, earned her Master of Science degree from Northwestern State in 2007.
Two former softball student-athletes join the athletics department in various capacities. Jessica Clarke, who played for the Cajuns in 2000-01, is UL’s new Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance. Clarke earned her bachelor of science and master of education degrees from UL. She is currently pursing her PhD in higher education. During her time as an undergraduate, she was named Homecoming Queen in 2002 and the Outstanding Graduate in Spring 2003.
Joy Webre, a member of the Ragin’ Cajuns softball team that advanced to the 2003 Women’s College World Series, rejoins the softball program as an assistant coach. Webre earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from UL in 2005.
A third alumnus of the University, Chris Yandle, returns to UL as the Assistant Sports Information Director. Yandle will serve as the primary media contact for the volleyball, men’s basketball and softball programs, while also overseeing the layout and design of all media publications. Yandle is a 2004 graduate of UL, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations. He then spent two years as a graduate assistant at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., where he earned his Master of Science degree in athletic administration in May.
New track and field head coach Steve Silvey hired Paula Ogunbanjo as his staff’s newest assistant coach. Ogunbanjo earned her Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from Oklahoma State in 2005. In May, she graduated from Emporia State with a Master of Science degree in health, physical education and recreation. While at Oklahoma State, Ogunbanjo was a seven-time All-Big 12 athlete. In 2004, she broke the school record in triple jump and later finished third at the 2004 Big 12 Championships.
On the basketball court, three new assistant coaches will be pacing the sidelines. For the women, new head coach Errol Rogers added assistants Paula Lee and Liza Whittington to his staff.
Lee, the sister of head men’s basketball coach Robert Lee, comes to UL after serving as the head women’s basketball coach at Southern University in Shreveport. Prior to her three seasons at SUS, she served as an assistant coach at LSU, McNeese State and Tennessee State. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from LSU.
Whittington is no stranger to Cajun Country as she has coached at three different southwest Louisiana high schools. Most recently, Whittington, a 1994 graduate of Lambuth University, was the head girls’ basketball coach at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge from 2005-07. From 2002-05, she was an assistant girls’ basketball coach at Teurlings Catholic in Lafayette. Prior to Teurlings, Whittington was the head girls’ basketball and volleyball coach at Westminster Christian Academy in Opelousas from 1995-2002.
On the men’s side, head coach Robert Lee added assistant coach Jason “Jai” Steadman to his staff. Steadman, a 1997 graduate of Nebraska, was an assistant coach on Johnny Jones’ staff at North Texas during the 2005-06 season. Prior to his one year stint in Denton, Steadman was an assistant coach at McNeese State in 2004-05.
The department will also soon be filling three additional positions for an assistant tennis coach, assistant volleyball coach and an assistant athletic trainer.
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA ATHLETICS STAFF ADDITIONS
Jessica Clarke, Compliance Director
Victoria du Preez, Assistant Athletic Trainer
Scott Farmer, Associate Director of Athletics
Paula Lee, Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
Paula Ogunbanjo, Assistant Track & Field Coach
Stefanie Rodgers, Assistant Athletic Trainer
Jason Steadman, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
Joy Webre, Assistant Softball Coach
Liza Whittington, Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
Chris Yandle, Assistant Sports Information Director |
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