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College basketball

New Saint Leo coach makes good on promise

By STEVE LEE
Published July 6, 2005

ST. LEO - A standout forward on the winningest women's basketball team in school history, Chanita Olds has returned to her alma mater.

Just like she said she would.

Olds, an all-Sunshine State Conference player as a Saint Leo senior, vowed to coach the Division II school's women's basketball team after her 1999 graduation. Athletic director Fran Reidy announced the hiring Tuesday, though he made his choice on Friday from among eight candidates interviewed.

"Whether it's good, bad or indifferent we have an affection for our alma mater, which she clearly does," Reidy said. "She knows Saint Leo. Overall, I think it's going to be good."

"It's a great feeling," Olds said. "When I graduated I always said I wanted to come back and coach (at Saint Leo)."

This is not Olds' first coaching stint at Saint Leo. In 1998-99, she was a men's basketball assistant under former coach Mike Hanks.

"I remember saying I want to coach and he said, "That's a good thing,' " Olds recalled of a postgraduation conversation with Hanks. "I said, "I want to coach under you. I want to learn from the best and you're the best."

Olds replaced Kerri Reaves, who last month returned to Providence for her second stint as an assistant. Saint Leo struggled under Reaves, who went 15-68 in three seasons. That included two one-win seasons and dealing with the death of Elaine Evans in 2004.

Olds, however, is not concerned about the past and vowed to turn things around quickly.

"I come in with the will to win," she said. "I don't focus on the bad part of a program, because I'm not part of that. I can't control what happened. I come in excited and the players feed off of it."

Olds spent the past two seasons coaching Palm Beach Community College to a 79-35 record, capping a 21-9 season in 2003-04 by winning the Southern Conference championship. She was named the conference's coach of the year that season.

Olds, who played at Santa Fe Community College for two seasons and coached at Florida A&M, Flagler and Jacksonville Episcopal High, believes she can be successful at Saint Leo, too.

"I want to pick up where we left off to show that it can be done," said Olds, alluding to Saint Leo's 18-win season in 1997-98. "I know it can be done. I did it."

[Last modified July 6, 2005, 00:50:11]