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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us July 23, 2005 Former Raider assistant named head coach Lynn Kennedy will take charge of the SOU women’s basketball on Aug. 15 By Rich Rosenthal Tidings Corespondent Southern Oregon University’s national search for a new women’s basketball coach has culminated with the hiring of Lynn Kennedy, the university announced Friday evening. SOU Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports Dennis Francois announced today the highly respected coach, recruiter and educator will succeed Kevin Wilson and become the 12th head coach in the 32-year history of the Raider women’s basketball program starting Aug. 15. Over 60 candidates applied for the SOU coaching vacancy, which also carries teaching responsibilities. Kennedy, 33, comes to SOU from New Mexico Highlands University, where he transformed a NCAA Div. II program into a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference West Division champion, while also serving as an instructor in the exercise and sport sciences department. “We are excited to have an individual with great expertise and proven success in coaching women’s basketball and teaching students in a setting similar to SOU,” Francois said. “As an Oregon native with considerable experience in recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, Coach Kennedy will be a great asset for SOU in our efforts to continue our national prominence.” Kennedy was also thrilled by the search committee’s decision. He inherits a Raider program that had a 15-year run of consecutive playoff appearances prior to last season. “I’m excited about the possibilities at Southern and working again with Dr. Francois,” Kennedy said. “With SOU’s returning student-athletes, we have an excellent foundation to build upon and continue the Raider success. Having met the student-athletes at SOU, I am confident we have a genuine chance of being successful in the upcoming seasons both regionally and nationally. My dual goal is to enhance SOU’s success both academically and on the court through my commitment to the student-athlete.” Two years removed from a four-win campaign, Kennedy’s NMHU rebuilding job produced the first women’s basketball championship in Cowgirl history during the 2004-05 season as a result of an 18-11 overall record. With a 14-player roster containing players from six different states — including five from Washington and Oregon — the Cowgirls finished on a nine-game home win streak, advanced to the league tournament semifinals and ranked among the Div. II leaders for scoring with 73.3 points per game. Prior to his arrival in Las Vegas, N.M., longtime Raider coach Shirley Huyett tapped Kennedy to serve as her top assistant at Idaho State University in 2001-02, and he assumed the head coach duties on an interim basis for the final seven games of the season. Kennedy spent two years as an assistant at Eastern Washington University and helped shape an Eagle program that posted back-to-back Big Sky Conference playoff appearances and finished with the fourth-highest aggregate grade point average in NCAA Division I basketball in 1999-2000. Kennedy’s first head coaching position was at his alma mater, Northwest University, and he directed the Kirkland, Wash., team to the 1998-99 National Christian College Athletic Association West Regional tournament title and a sixth-place finish at the national tournament, the best in school history. “The Cascade Conference has gone through some changes since I was at Northwest, but I’m familiar with the travel schedules, the schools we’re recruiting against and their styles,” Kennedy said. “I look forward to continue recruiting in this area (the Northwest).” Kennedy’s coaching career began in 1995 while serving for two seasons as the assistant coach for the women’s program at Northwest, followed by a one-year appointment as the boys’ basketball assistant at Lake Washington High School, and his athletic administration experience includes a stint with the Seattle Seahawks football team at their training facilities in Kirkland. After growing up in Eugene and earning all-star honors as a prep at Cascade High School in Everett, Wash., Kennedy played two basketball seasons at Northwest Christian College prior to completing his college career at Northwest. The 1995 NU Business Administration graduate earned a master’s degree in physical education from Pacific Lutheran University in 1997. Kennedy and his wife, Amy, have two sons: Graycen, 7, and Parker, 4. “I’m grateful for the highly professional job of the search committee in their thorough review of a strong pool of candidates, and selecting a group of excellent finalists for the position,” Francois said. 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