Author: Riley Kimball
Candice Wiggins, a member of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Minnesota Lynx, recently joined the coaching staff of Occidental’s Women’s Basketball team. Following the Lynx’s championship season last year, Wiggins, who is in her off-season, adds significantly to the professional caliber of the Tiger women.
After spending the spring rehabilitating her Achilles tendon with Occidental coaches Heidi VanDerveer, who coached Wiggins at Stanford, and Betsy Butterick, Wiggins developed a closeness to the Tigers.
VanDerveer is excited to be working again with Wiggins. “Candice brings tremendous energy, the perspective of not just a great player but [also] a great teammate,” said VanDerveer. “She spent four years at Stanford and watching her practice every day, she never really had a bad day.”
Since Wiggins already has a closeness to the coaching staff, she has been working to become close to the members of the team. “She comes to practice, and she’s grown to have a great bond with our team” said VanDerveer. Wiggins currently helps at practices three to five times a week.
The addition of a coach of Wiggins’ caliber will benefit the women this season immensely. “It’s great for anyone trying to become the best players they can be,” said VanDerveer. “Whenever you have someone who’s at the highest level in their trade, they can show you little nuances to the game, subtleties that sometimes we miss out on when focusing on the big picture.”
Wiggins’ career has certainly propelled her to the highest level of basketball. Her impressive background is not limited to her championship win with the Lynx last month. She is one of only four women basketball players to have been a four-time All-American, and she is the only one to score over forty points in multiple games of an NCAA Tournament.
Wiggins was the first first-year to win the Pac-10 Player of the Year for the 2004-2005 season. She also played for the gold medal-winning Team U.S.A. in the 2007 Pan American Games and won the U.S. Basketball Female Athlete of the Year the same year.
“I was at Stanford when she was a senior, and she was injured that year, she was struggling with things we all struggle with as students,” said Butterick. “But her energy and enthusiasm was always high, always positive. She doesn’t let stuff carry over, she always gives her best when she’s on the court.”
Wiggins is also a role model to aspiring basketball players. She runs basketball clinics in Pasadena, and she supports the team with the experience of being a student athlete. Wiggins’ impact does not stop when she leaves the court as she volunteers a lot of her time to various organizations.
She has partnered with Until There’s A Cure, a non-profit organization dedicated to AIDS awareness and assistance. Her activity in this organization stems from her past experience with AIDS. Wiggins’ father, professional baseball player Alan Wiggins, passed away from AIDS when she was four years old. She is currently writing a book about him.
The women are looking forward to a strong season with Wiggins at their side. “She loves being here and we love having her,” said Coach Butterick.
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