Fernandez moves on to Menlo College
COSTA MESA -- Teeya Fernandez, a fixture of the Orange Coast College women's basketball team both as a player and assistant coach, has accepted a job as assistant basketball coach at Menlo College.
"Teeya has been a huge part of our program for 10 years as both a player and an assistant coach. She has been one of the main reasons why we have enjoyed so much success in those 10 years," head coach Mike Thornton said. "She has been ready to go for a couple of years and this is a perfect opportunity for her. We will greatly miss her, but it's a step she needed to take and has earned and worked hard for the opportunity."
Fernandez first stepped foot onto the OCC campus as a standout guard out of Cypress High School in 2003. After sitting out the 2003-04 season following knee surgery, Fernandez played the following two seasons and was a tri-captain on the 2006 team that won 30 games and advanced to the State Final Four.
A graduate of Cal State Fullerton, Fernandez joined Thornton's coaching staff in 2007 and was a part of even more success throughout the OCC women's hoops history. "She was a big part of our coaching staff during our back-to-back Orange Empire Conference championships (2007 and 2008) and our regional finals team of 2011," Thornton said. "It's always been Teeya's career goal to be a head coach at a small college and this move is a step towards attaining that goal."
According to Thornton, third-year assistant coach Valerie Katayama and first-year assistant Alyssa Hanson will combine to run the Pirates' defense and the strength program that Fernandez helped maintain during her tenure at Coast.
