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Head Coach Sandra Marbut Beginning her fourth season at the helm of Caltech’s Women’s Basketball team, Coach Sandra Marbut becomes the longest tenured coach in Tech history. Previously Rachel Madsen held the honors for her guidance for three seasons, but now Marbut takes over the top spot with the 2006-2007 campaign. Coming off what is arguably the best Caltech season on the books for the second year in a row, Marbut’s team informed its opponents that Caltech was closing the gap. Her 05-06 team posted yet another season of new records, breaking all of the ones set the previous year. Now the challenge is to convince the SCIAC that it is time to give the Techers a place at the table and some respect. The ladies in orange are ready to meet that challenge. A Native of Redondo Beach, California, Marbut had been away from coaching prior to joining the staff at Caltech. "I never planned on ending up coaching out of the collegiate ranks for four seasons. Sometimes life just deals you cards you don't expect. It was a good thing. It gave me the time away to fall in love with the game of basketball again." As Associate Program Director and Coaching Coordinator for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, Coach Marbut assisted more than 1,000 new runners to the finish line of their first marathon. In addition, she was able to help her runners raise more than $1 million dollars for AIDS Project Los Angeles. An avid marathoner herself, Marbut ran her first 26.2 mile distance in November of 1999 and has turned in 14 total marathon finishes in the four years she worked with the program. Back on the road again, Marbut is training to add number 15 at the LA Marathon in March. Prior to her return to the Los Angeles area, Coach Marbut was an Assistant Coach at NCAA Division I Western Illinois University. Serving as co-recruiting coordinator, she also provided on court instruction for forwards and post players as well as scouting reports for the Westerwinds. The move to Illinois was preceded by a run as Head Coach at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a NCAA Division II institution competing in the oldest Division II conference, the RMAC. While at CU Colorado Springs, Marbut lead the team to many firsts. With the largest recruiting class in school history, the Gold was a tough competitor on the court. Marbut helped UCCS set four different recruiting records. That translated into results on the court. Despite not receiving a conference tournament bid, the Gold placed second in several defensive categories and placed its first player ever on not only the RMAC West Division Team, but also the RMAC Super Conference First team. Recruiting power had been a strong trait throughout Marbut's career. Prior to the move to Colorado, She was an Assistant Coach at Teikyo Marycrest University in Davenport, IA. While at TMU, Marbut was instrumental in helping the Eagles to new recruiting records and bringing in a team that surprised many conference rivals in the Midwest Classic Conference. Marbut had also displayed her ability to turn a program around at conference opponent, Mount Saint Clare College. Serving as Assistant Athletic Director and Head Coach for Women's Basketball, Volleyball and Softball during her two-year stretch with the Mounties, Marbut took each program to its highest competitive level the program had seen at that time. The women's basketball program improved from a .037 winning percentage to over the .500 mark with just one recruiting class when Marbut left MSC. The Mounties set six recruiting records in the first season. Coach Marbut was able to take each program from sparse wins to immediate contenders in the conference, with more than one player in each sport earning all conference honors. The road to a life long career in collegiate coaching began at her alma mater. Marbut's first coaching opportunity came as she returned to her undergraduate program as an assistant coach for Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska. Marbut joined the staff after graduating as one of the first four players to be a four-year letter winner and earn a four-year degree at Sheldon Jackson. As a player, Marbut left her mark, still today ranked in the SJC top ten in multiple categories. Although SJC no longer sponsors collegiate athletics, during its run it was a part of the competitive Pacific Northwest, competing against national powerhouses such as Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser of British Columbia, University of Puget Sound, and Pacific Lutheran College. Marbut was no stranger to competing on the court, and building a program. Starting with her own college career and carrying it over into coaching, each program she has come to was in a win deficit when she arrived, and each program made great strides in one way or another. It was her time at a small college that Marbut credits with providing her a strong philosophy in collegiate sports. Committed to graduating players, Marbut's players have earned degrees at a 97% rate in the programs Marbut was a head coach. "I left the Los Angeles Area just one of many college players, and found the value of being a person on a small campus. I have kept the lessons of a solid education with me as I have coached." Marbut's success as a coach is evident, as many of her former players have also become coaches, both at the high school and collegiate level. "I love being at Caltech. This is a great program to be a part of. Call me stubborn, but I refuse to believe we can't build a program here. There are many young ladies out there who are incredibly smart, and want to continue playing college ball at a competitive level. We have a national ranked education to offer a young student athlete. And we also have a philosophy of balancing academics and athletics to give them. This is a great option for many student athlete and we plan to find the young ladies who are right for our campus. The rest will come as we build that because you can be smart enough for Caltech and a good basketball player!" |
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The Department
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Women's Basketball
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