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--> --> Santos picked to guide Grizz By Bobby Heiken Ashland Daily Tidings After a year away from basketball, Stephanie Santos is taking a big leap back into it. Santos was named Ashland High's new girls varsity basketball coach Thursday, replacing the departed Heather Roberts. "I missed it," said Santos, who was the junior varsity head coach for three years, and Roberts' top assistant for one year. "But I love the game and I'm a baller. I'm really excited about getting the opportunity." Santos, who teaches and is the girls head golf coach at AHS, will serve as the interim head coach for one year. "It worked out perfectly for both sides," Ashland Athletic Director Jim Nagel said. "We get to see how she does as a head coach, and she gets the chance to see if this is something she really wants to do." Santos agrees that having a one-year tryout is the best fit for her. "Being a successful varsity head coach is a lot of work," Santos said. "You've got to take your team to camps, you've got your own camps and you've got summer leagues to play in. I like my summers. I'm a paleontologist so I like to go looking for dinosaurs during the summer." Santos said she knew that Roberts had ideas of leaving the program, but was still sort of surprised when she heard the news. "Heather and I are good friends," she said. "We talk a lot and I knew there was a chance she would leave." Roberts left for Lakeridge after an impressive five-year run with the Grizzlies. She leaves a program for Santos that is very young. "I've got a lot of respect for what Heather did," Santos said. "A lot of people said that this was a good time for her to leave because the program is down. But I don't think we are in that bad of shape. We aren't a Crater or Roseburg yet, but we've got a real solid group of young girls that are going to play some really good basketball." Santos said she's going to move current junior varsity head coach Ross Caldwell up to the varsity assistant position and then look for a new junior varsity coach. As for the selection of Santos, Nagel likes his choice. "I've got a lot of confidence that Stephanie will do a great job," he said. "Everyone I talked to, including Heather, said she'd be the one." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing