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Central Valley tabs alum Ryan Bragdon as girls basketball coach

By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Central Valley didn’t wait all that long to hire a new girls basketball coach.

The Bears have named former Northwest Nazarene University women’s basketball coach Ryan Bragdon, a Central Valley grad, as girls head coach, confirmed by CV athletic director Robin Barnhart on Monday.

Bragdon was let go in midseason in February 2016 by NNU.

Bragdon had been at Northwest Nazarene, a Division II program in Nampa, Idaho, since 2013. The Crusaders went 30-41 in his tenure, and were 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, in playoff contention, when he was released.

Before NNU, Bragdon spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois State, helping lead the Redbirds to two second-round appearances at the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).

In 2012, Bragdon was named one of CollegeInsider.com’s “Top 25 Mid-Major Women’s College Basketball Assistants.”

Prior to Illinois State, Bragdon spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio University and seven years at Western Michigan.

As an assistant at WMU, he helped lead the team to a Mid-American Conference Tournament championship, an NCAA Tournament appearance and a WNIT quarterfinal appearance.

Bragdon takes over for Freddie Rehkow, who was named the 2017-18 National High School Girls Basketball Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) in April, the first coach from Washington to achieve the honor.

Rehkow led CV to its third straight undefeated regular season and second State 4A title in the last three years in record-setting fashion while going 81-1 over the period.

Lacie Hull scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and six steals and No. 1 seed Central Valley shut down fifth-seeded Woodinville (22-5) 70-39 in the State 4A championship game at the Tacoma Dome on March 3.

Rehkow and Central Valley capped off a 29-0 season by beating Hamilton Heights Christian from Tennessee for the GEICO High School Nationals championship, which landed the Bears No. 4 in the nation in the USA TODAY Super 25 national rankings.

In May, CV was named No. 1 in he nation for the 2017-18 season in MaxPreps’ Xcellent 25 poll of its sportswriters.