PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers have hired former Oregon Ducks and WNBA guard Edniesha Curry as an assistant coach, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic.
Curry, 42, has been an assistant coach for the men's basketball team at the University of Maine since 2018. She will be the first female coach in Blazers history.
Curry played the 2001-2002 season for the Ducks after coming over as a senior transfer. Curry earned honorable mention all-conference honors and helped lead Oregon to an NIT title. She went on to play professionally in the WNBA and overseas for a decade.
After her playing career, Curry was a player development and assistant coach for the University of Maine women's basketball team from 2015 to 2017. She worked with the NBA Assistant Coaches' Program and was a coach in Vietnam, China, Israel and Palestine. In 2018, she was hired as an assistant coach for the Maine men's basketball team.
"She is extremely talented at developing players, especially within the context of defensive and offensive systems," said Maine head coach Richard Barron, adding that she's also great at scouting opponents and breaking down video.
The coaching staff for head coach Chauncey Billups is starting to take shape. In addition to Curry, the Blazers will reportedly add former Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks as lead assistant and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Roy Rogers to Billups' staff.
