G.E. COLEMAN RETURNS AS WILDCATS' ASSISTANT MEN'S BASKETBALL COACH
Former Student Assistant Returns to Central Washington Bench Following Two Years at Eastern Washington

ELLENSBURG -- G.E. Coleman, a former student assistant coach for the Central Washington University men's basketball team, has returned to his alma mater to become the Wildcats' next assistant coach. Coleman replaces Tyce Nasinec, who resigned earlier this summer to pursue other professional opportunities.

Coleman, 25, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for Mike Burns at Eastern Washington University in Cheney While with the Eagles, Coleman was responsible for player development, coaching the perimeter players, and other administrative duties including scouting and academics.

"It is great to have G.E. back on staff," CWU head coach Greg Sparling exclaimed. "He has had two years away from the program to grow and to see what it is like at the Division I level. He has made some great recruiting contacts and had the opportunity to gain some valuable knowledge from one of the premier recruiters on the West Coast in (former CWU assistant) Carl Howell."

A 2005 graduate of Central, Coleman is quite familiar with Sparling and the Wildcat program. He spent all five years as an undergraduate student assistant coach. He also grew up breathing Central basketball, as his father, the late Gil Coleman, spent five seasons as the Wildcats' head coach from 1990-95.

"It is a great honor for me to return to a place I consider home," Coleman explained. "Many people have goals of being at the Division I level, but my (career) goal since I was five years old was to become an assistant coach at Central Washington University. I am thankful to have already had the opportunity to be around great Wildcat coaches (Dean Nicholson, Coleman, Sparling), and am grateful to be back working at Central once again. It's a great university and a wonderful community, and it feels good to be home."

Among his previous experience with the Wildcats, Coleman was responsible for helping to coordinate the team's offense, which ranked among the NCAA Division II national leaders during his senior year (2004-05). He also assisted with recruiting, individual development, scouting, and day-to-day operations during his undergraduate days at Central.

"Having G.E. back will also help us get in contact with many former players," Sparling added. "He is the type of coach who will hit the Northwest recruiting hard. We're excited to have him back."

Though Coleman spent quite a bit of his childhood in Ellensburg, he graduated from Onalaska High School in 2000, where he was a three-year letterman in basketball for the Loggers. He earned "Best Hustler" and "Most Inspirational" awards while helping the Loggers qualify for the WIAA Class 1A state tournament all three seasons (1998-2000).

Central Washington, which finished 15-12 last season and narrowly missed a second consecutive NCAA Division II tournament berth, is scheduled to open its 2007-08 regular season on Nov. 16 against Notre Dame de Namur University (Calif.) at Nicholson Pavilion.