Spartan alum named CSU-Stanislaus women's basketball head coach

Sharon Turner-Dean, who played and coached at San Jose State, is the new women's basketball head coach at CSU-Stanislaus.

TURLOCK — Former Cal Poly Pomona associate head coach Sharon Turner-Dean has been named the head women’s basketball coach at California State University, Stanislaus, it was announced by Director of Athletics Dr. Milt Richards.

“I am very pleased that we have attracted the top assistant from the two-time defending championship team to lead our program,” Richards said. “It’s a tribute to how far CSU Stanislaus Athletics has come over the past
three years to attract someone of this caliber. We’re looking forward to having Sharon on campus.”

Turner-Dean has been a part of a very successful Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball program, which has won back-to-back national championships. The Broncos most recently won the NCAA title and their third consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association championship.

As the associate head coach at Cal Poly Pomona under head coach Paul Thomas, Turner-Dean served as the recruiting and academic coordinator. She also organized summer camps and clinics. Since she joined the Cal Poly Pomona staff in July of 1999, the Broncos have compiled an overall record of 81-10.

“From talking to Dr. (Walter) Strong and Milt (Richards), I got a sense of a significant commitment from the university to athletics and its future,” Turner-Dean said. “Where they want the direction of this program to be headed is something that’s very exciting.”

Turner-Dean’s previous coaching experience included being the program director at CSU Monterey Bay from Aug. 1998 to Aug. 1999. She was also an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Long Beach State from Sept. 1994 to June 1995. Turner-Dean also worked as the assistant coach at San Jose State from Aug. 1992 to Aug. 1994.

After her playing career at San Jose State concluded in 1986, Turner-Dean coached at Mira Loma and Rio Americano High Schools in Sacramento from 1986 to 1991. She finished her collegiate career among the Spartan career leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and free-throw percentage.

“I think it’s going to be an exciting time,” Turner-Dean said. “We’ll have the challenges of starting at this time of the year. We still need to do some more recruiting and the players will have to adjust to a new system in the fall. I’m looking forward to bringing different things to the program and the university.”

The new Warriors head coach has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in Afro-American Studies from San Jose State.

Turner-Dean’s husband, Gary Dean, is an assistant women’s basketball coach at UC Riverside. They have two children, Ashleigh, 16, and Allen, 4.

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