SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Head coach Jennifer Mountain, entering her sixth year leading Santa Clara women's basketball, announced a promotion and a new addition to her staff on Tuesday. Amanda Brown was promoted to assistant coach after serving as Director of Basketball Operations for the last three seasons. Angie Bjorklund was hired to replace Brown as the Director of Basketball Operations.
"I am really looking forward to this opportunity and the new challenges of working in an assistant coach position," said Brown. "I now have a greater responsibility as far as opponent scouting, recruiting, and teaching. I am loving being able to interact with the players on the court in a more direct manner, and am looking forward to the challenges and lessons I am bound to learn this season from Jen, Stacy, Rich and the players. "
"I am extremely excited to work with Amanda now in a coaching role as she has always been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the game of basketball," said Mountain. "She is one of the hardest workers I have ever personally coached and it will be apparent in her tireless work with our players. She has been working hard to step into this spot and has proven to me she can and will do a great job for our team."
Brown did a remarkable job during her three seasons at Santa Clara. She helped run the day-to-day operations for a program that has seen its student-athletes garner local, regional and national recognition for their academic achievements and commitment to community service.
Honors and achievements by the program during her tenure include: a league-best three players recognized on the 2012 WCC All-Academic Team (10 players post GPA's above 3.0); four players on the 2013 WCC All-Academic Team; SCU Bronco Athletics 'Community Service Team of the Year' in both 2011 and 2012; continued work with the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI); Breast Cancer Awareness efforts have included the annual Play 4Kay Game, and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk; given the 2012 READ award by Santa Clara University, an honor given by the SCU library, recognizing an on-campus group or individual that shows a passion for information literacy.
"I believe in the program, staff and what they're working towards at Santa Clara," said Bjorklund. "It was a great opportunity that I couldn't pass up and I feel like I fit in well with the people I'll be working with. I am very excited for this opportunity."
"Having Angie join our staff as the Director of Basketball Operations is refreshing and exciting," said Mountain. "She brings a new perspective and can share experiences she has had during her college days and with playing overseas. Playing for an elite program as Tennessee and having been coached by the all-time greatest coach can only enhance our program and where we are trying to go. She brings great energy and is excited to tackle what's in store."
A 2011 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a B.A. in Psychology, Bjorklund spent 2012 and parts of 2013 playing professionally in Perpignan, France. She also has experience playing in Netanya, Israel and in the WNBA with the Chicago Sky.
Bjorklund also founded Aspire Higher Basketball Camps in April 2012. Over the past two years she has trained over 500 athletes as well as organizing, advertising and managing the camps.
Bjorklund played basketball at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summitt. During her career at Tennessee Bjorklund won three regular season SEC titles as well as three SEC Tournament Championships. Bjorklund was also a member of the 2008 NCAA Champions. She holds the record for most career three points made at Tennessee. Her individual awards include being named All-SEC First-Team and Associated Press All-American Honorable mention in both 2010 and 2011, being named 2009 All-SEC Second-Team and being named the 2008 SEC Rookie of the Year.
The classroom was also a place of recognition for Bjorklund. In 2011 she was the runner-up for the Senior CLASS Award as well being named to the CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American Basketball Team in 2009 and 2010. Bjorklund was also the 2010 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and on the SEC Academic Honor Roll 2009-11. She also received the Vol Scholar Award every semester from Fall 2007 through Spring 2011.
She eared a gold medal with the USA U-19 National Team in 2007 when she travelled to Spain and Slovakia to compete.
Bjorklund has also done extensive volunteer work. She has organized basketball clinics and camps, spoken for churches, camps foundations and schools, and took a mission trip to Honduras in 2010.
Born in Spokane, Wash., Bjorklund attended University High School. She has one sibling, an older sister, Jamie, who played at Gonzaga from 2005-09 and was coached by Mountain. Her uncle played basketball at Oregon and her grandpa played basketball at Washington State.