University of Arkansas - Fort Smith women’s basketball coach Louis Whorton has announced the hiring of LaToya Rose and Ann Seufer as assistant coaches.
They fill the vacancy created by the recent resignation of former Lady Lions assistant coach Tiffany Swoffard. Swoffard, who served on Whorton’s staff for three seasons, was hired as assistant coach at NCAA Division I Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
“We are certainly very excited to have both of them,” Whorton said.
A native of Magnolia, Ark., Rose was previously head junior varsity coach and assistant senior high coach at North Forest High School in Houston, Texas. Rose will be recruiting coordinator and will direct the weight-lifting and conditioning program.
Rose, 30, is a 1998 graduate of Walker High School and 2002 graduate of Texas A&M University, where she played guard for four seasons for the Aggies. She is seventh on the Aggies’ all-time 3-point field goals made list with 107 3-pointers and is fifth all-time in 3-point field goals attempted with 371.
She also was a member of the Big 12 All-Star Foreign Touring Team in 2001 and played for the Aggies softball team in 2002.
“She’s decided to go into (collegiate) coaching, and we think she will be an outstanding coach on the floor as far as teaching the kids what it takes to play big-time basketball,” Whorton said. “We think she will do an outstanding job recruiting.”
Rose was one of only two women cast members of MTV’s “Who’s Got Game,” which was a nationally-televised program produced by Magic Johnson that featured 12 of the nation’s best streetballers. She also played professionally one season in Keflavik, Iceland.
“This is a great opportunity,” Rose said. “I wanted this opportunity a long time ago, but I decided to jump into the corporate world and try different things first. But, it brought me right back here to where I always wanted to be. This is a great opportunity, and to be back in Arkansas is even better.”
A native of Williamstown, W. Va., Seufer is a 2010 graduate of Guilford College, where she played guard for the NCAA Division III Quakers of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Seufer will be in charge of academics and game-day travel and will assist with the weight-lifting and conditioning program.
“She comes very highly recruited even though she is young and just right out of college,” Whorton said. “Her college coach, high school coach and everybody just raved about the potential she has. Her lifelong dream is to get into coaching. We really think she is going to add to us because of her enthusiasm and her eagerness to be a basketball coach.”
Seufer, 22, said she is excited about joining the coaching staff at UA Fort Smith, which is a provisional member of NCAA Division II and competes in the Heartland Conference. The Lady Lions have averaged 23 wins per season during Whorton’s previous 24 seasons and while competing as a junior college program made two appearances in the NJCAA national championship game, winning the 1995 national title.
“I met a contact that knew coach Whorton and gave me the connection here. I got to talk with coach Whorton, and I completely lucked into this job,” Seufer said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Seufer was a four-year letter winner and started all but 10 games at Guilford. She averaged 10 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. She shot 32 percent from the field (347 of 1,068) and 80 percent from the free-throw line (106 of 132).
She is the Quakers’ all-time career leader in three-pointers made (227) and attempted (717) and holds Guilford’s records for three-pointers in a game (8) and season (62). Her career .317 three-point percentage ranks seventh in school history, and she ranks 15th among Guilford's scoring leaders with 1,027 points.
Seufer also was a three-time ODAC All-Academic Team selection and an eight-time member of Guilford’s Student-Athlete Honor Roll.
