Bearcats Hire Woodard and Corral as Assistant Women's Basketball Coaches
By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's basketball team has added two assistant coaches for the 2016-17 season, Head Coach Peg Swadener announced today. The new coaches are Mike Woodard and Ashley Corral.
"Both Mike and Ashley will be great additions as their passion for helping student-athletes perform at their best will fit in perfectly with the philosophy of our program," Swadener said.
Mike Woodard arrives at Willamette after helping coach the men's basketball team at Multnomah University last season. He was a high school coach at Western Mennonite from 2011 through 2015. He coached girls' and boys' basketball, girls' soccer, cross country and baseball.
In addition to on-court coaching, Woodard's major responsibilities will include recruiting, scouting opponents and camps.
Woodard attended Multnomah University, where he played basketball from 2007-08 through 2010-11. He previously was a student at Western Mennonite, where he was the OSAA Class 2A State Player of the Year in basketball as a senior.
"I am very excited to have Mike join the Bearcat family as our full-time assistant," Swadener said. "He is a true student of the game, and after having worked our camps for the past four years, he has already proven his ability to form strong, positive relationships with our student-athletes."
Ashley Corral will focus her efforts on individual player development at Willamette. She was an assistant coach at NWC rival Lewis & Clark College the past two seasons.
Corral was a part of three Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) teams: Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream. She played overseas in China and Argentina.
She earned four letters on the basketball team at the University of Southern California while playing from 2008-09 through 2011-12. She earned First Team All-PAC-12 Conference honors three times. She set the Trojans' school record for successful career 3-point shots (292) and ranked fifth by shooting 35.6% from 3-point range. She scored 1,542 career points.
Corral graduated from USC with a bachelor's degree in Human Performance in 2013. She completed a minor in Occupational Therapy.
Prior to attending college, Corral was a basketball player at Prairie High School in Vancouver, Washington. She was a 2008 McDonald's All-American and was chosen as the Gatorade Player of the Year for the State of Washington.
"Not only has Ashley played the game at the highest level, she is also considered one of the best individual development trainers around," Swadener noted. "Her drive to pursue excellence carries over to everyone she is around. We are fortunate to have someone of her caliber work with our team on a regular basis."