FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State women's basketball head coach Ryan McCarthy announced Shaina Afoa as Associate Head Coach on Tuesday afternoon, filling the first of his coaching staff.
Afoa comes to Fresno as a part of McCarthy's previous coaching staff from University of Anchorage Alaska, where she spent 13 seasons and now enters her 11th season as McCarthy's associate head coach. While at Fresno State, Afoa's coaching emphasis will be with the Bulldogs' post players.
"Shaina has been with me for the last 13 seasons at UAA and has been instrumental in building the program at UAA.," said head coach Ryan McCarthy. "She has a deep understanding of our championship culture and has been as loyal as they come. I am so grateful for her tremendous impact on our ladies over the years, and we are very lucky to have her here at Fresno State."
In her time at UAA, the Anchorage native helped the Seawolves to a 281-62 overall record, eight straight NCAA Tournaments (2014-22), six straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2015-20) and four GNAC Tournament titles.
In 2018, Afoa was named the NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year and a Thirty Under 30 recognition by the WBCA in March of 2017.
Afoa's first season at UAA included the 2016 NCAA West Region title as the Seawolves earned their first-ever and first-ever national title games. The following season Afoa contributed to a record-breaking 30-2 overall record and earned the first 20-0 league record in GNAC history.
Afoa was a three-sport athlete at GNAC rival Central Washington from 2006-11, lettering four times in both basketball and track & field, plus once in volleyball. A three-year starter at center, she finished No. 2 on the Wildcats' career list for blocks with 126, plus fourth in rebounds (599), sixth in games started (79) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.461). She was inducted into the CWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024.
A graduate of Anchorage's Dimond High School, Afoa earned her bachelor's degree in Art/Graphic Design from CWU in 2011 and her graduate certificate in Human Services from UAA in 2014.