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Brittney
Ezell has been named the new head women's
basketball coach at the University of Montevallo. She will become
the twelfth head coach in the 36-year history of the program. She
will succeed Roy Dixon, who left UM at the conclusion of the 2007-08
season.
Ezell comes to Montevallo after three
years as the head coach at Okaloosa-Walton College in Niceville,
Fla. She previously spent five years as the recruiting coordinator
at the University of Alabama.
“We are excited to welcome Brittney Ezell
as our new women’s basketball head coach,” said Herlihy. “Her energy
and enthusiasm, her track record as a coach and student-athlete, and
her ties to the state of Alabama will be big benefits for our
student-athletes as we develop a competitive program in the Gulf
South Conference.”
As head coach at Okaloosa-Walton, Ezell
posted a 57-28 record (.671), which included an appearance in the
NJCAA Regional Tournament and 20 wins in 2006. She developed 14
All-Panhandle Conference performers and developed 12
student-athletes who signed with NCAA Division I schools and two
others who signed with NCAA Division II schools. She also coached
two recipients of the Sandy Miller Award, which is given to
the top female junior college student-athlete in Florida.
The Lady Raiders success carried over
into the classroom where 12 student-athletes were named Academic
All-Panhandle Conference during her tenure. Okaloosa-Walton also
received a national academic award from the Women’s Basketball
Coaches Association. The 2006-07 Lady Raiders were a WBCA
Academic Top 25 (No. 17) program with a 3.016 cumulative GPA.
Prior to OWC, Ezell was an assistant
coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Alabama, where
she helped produce back-to-back Top 15 ranked recruiting classes,
including the No. 12 nationally ranked class in 2003-04. She helped
develop four All-Southeastern Conference guards in Shondra Johnson,
Kate Mastin, Monique Bivins and Navonda Moore. She also helped to
recruit 10 Academic All-SEC performers. The women’s basketball guide
received a WBCA Academic Top 25 honor for the 2002-03 season.
Ezell was a four-year starting point
guard for the Tide, helping lead the team to a 95-34 (.736) record
and four consecutive NCAA Division I “Sweet Sixteen” appearances
from 1994-98. She remains in the Top 20 in career scoring, with
1,022 points and is second all-time in career assists (620) and
games started (114). She was a Second Team All-SEC selection in 1998
and was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team in 1996. In 1998, Ezell
was a candidate for the Francis Pomeroy Naismith Award, given
to the top point guard in the country and was named to the inaugural
WBCA/Honda All-Star Game for the nation’s top 20 players. She also
was invited to the WNBA Rookie Combine in Chicago. Additionally,
Ezell was a two-time Golden Glove recipient and two-year starter at
third base and shortstop for the UA softball team. She started at
third base for UA’s first SEC Tournament Championship team in
1998.
She received her bachelor’s degree in
business management from UA in 1999, and her master’s degree in
education administration from the University of Nebraska
(Lincoln). | 
