Raegan Pebley
Jennifer Raegan Pebley is an American basketball executive and former coach and player. She is currently the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Pebley has been the head women's coach at three NCAA Division I institutions, most recently TCU. Pebley played two seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association as Raegan Scott. A 6'4" forward, Pebley played college basketball at Colorado.
Early life and college playing career
Born and raised in Orem, Utah, Pebley graduated from Mountain View High School in Utah in 1993. Pebley then attended the University of Colorado Boulder and played at forward for the Colorado Buffaloes from 1993 to 1997. Pebley averaged 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds and shot.445 from the field in 124 games. Pebley earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in 1997 and graduated from Colorado with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.Professional playing career
Pebley was drafted in the third round of the 1997 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz. She would miss the Starzz' first three games of the 1997 season, but then finally debut on June 28, 1997, in a 58–76 loss to the Houston Comets. In her debut game, Pebley recorded 2 points and 1 rebound in just under 6 minutes of playing time. She would go on to play just 8 games in the 1997 season and averaged 5.4 minutes, 1.5 points, and 0.9 rebounds.Pebley's second season in the WNBA would end up being her final season in the league. She signed with the Cleveland Rockers and played 22 games for the team, averaging 7.6 minutes, 1.7 points, and 1.3 rebounds. The Rockers finished with a 20–10 record and reached the playoffs but were eliminated in the semi-finals by the Phoenix Mercury in three games. Game 3 of that series ended up being Pebley's final game of her career. The game was played on August 25, 1998, and the Rockers would lose 60–71, with Pebley recording 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block.
Coaching career
While playing in the WNBA, Pebley was an assistant coach at George Mason from 1997 to 1999 during league offseasons. Pebley then was an assistant coach at Colorado State from 1999 to 2001.On May 1, 2002, Pebley became head coach at Utah State, which reinstated its women's basketball program after a nearly 15-year hiatus, effective in the 2003–04 season. After a 5–22 record in her first season, Utah State improved to 14–14 in Pebley's second season. However, the team won just 23 games in the next three seasons, including a 3–24 record in 2005–06. In the 2008–09 season, Pebley led Utah State to a 16–15 record, including the program's first-ever postseason win in the first round of the WAC Tournament before losing to eventual tournament champion Fresno State. Utah State again made history in 2010–11 by making its first-ever Women's National Invitation Tournament. In 2011–12, Pebley's final season with Utah State, the team went 21–10 for its first season with 20 or more wins and made the WNIT for the second straight season.
On April 7, 2012, Pebley was hired as the ninth head coach at Fresno State University, to replace Adrian Wiggins, who left to coach at the University of Mississippi. She went 46–20 in her two seasons, with two Mountain West Conference Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances as well.
On March 31, 2014, she was named head coach at TCU, replacing Jeff Mittie, who left after 15 seasons to coach at Kansas State University. TCU made the WNIT four times and had three 20-win seasons during Pebley's tenure. In the 2019–20 season, TCU was expected to qualify for the NCAA tournament, before the cancellation of the games amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the next three seasons, her teams failed to reach a.500 record, going 10–15 in 2020–21, 6–22 in 2021–22 and 8–23 in 2022–23. She stepped down from the position at end of the season 2022–23 season.