Aug. 31, 2004

Champaign, Ill. - Head Coach Theresa Grentz announced the hiring of Blaine Patterson, formerly an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming, as the new assistant to the head coach for Illinois women's basketball on Tuesday. With coaching experience already under his belt and a wealth of video expertise, Patterson will redefine the role of the assistant to the head coach position at Illinois. Patterson will assist the UI staff with summer camps, on-campus recruiting and with the day-to-day operations of the program, but he will also be able to provide valuable insight to Coach Grentz and her staff because of his coaching and video background. "Blaine has a lot of energy and enthusiasm and we are very excited to welcome him to our staff," said Grentz. "We feel extremely fortunate to add a young man who has a coaching background and who knows how to deal the day-to-day demands of a Division I program. The fact that Blaine comes highly recommended from the people at NBA Films and has a tremendous understanding of technology makes this hiring a major coup for our staff." Patterson spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Wyoming - one year under Head Coach Cindy Fisher and last year under Head Coach Joe Legerski. He gained extensive experience in the video area while working with the Cowgirls, in particular with the XOS video editing system, which is used by many professional and college teams to formulate scouting reports and generate tendencies. While at Wyoming, Patterson worked closely with Drew Perry, currently the video coordinator for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, to help test and improve XOS software. Originally from Algoma, Wisc., Patterson attended Southwest State University in Marshall, Minn. for two years before transferring to the University of Wyoming in 1998. While at Wyoming he served as an administrative assistant for the men's basketball team for four seasons. His duties with the Cowboys included recruiting, summer camps, film exchange and organizing "The Sixth Man Club", a student fan organization that rose to over 1,200 members during his tenure. Patterson earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Wyoming in May of 2002 and recently completed coursework towards his master's degree in physical education, also at Wyoming. "I'm excited about the opportunity to come to Illinois and work with Coach Grentz and her staff," said Patterson. "Coach Grentz is very highly regarded among the coaching ranks and I look forward to advancing my career under her guidance. The most exciting thing about coming to Illinois is that everyone's focus is on winning a national championship. I feel that the personnel and resources are in place to do just that and am happy to be part of it now."