Auburn women[apos]s basketball coach Nell Fortner announced the hiring of Ayesha Whitfield as an assistant coach in May. Whitfield, who comes to Auburn after serving in a similar capacity last season at Central Michigan, replaces Daedra Charles-Furlow, who left Auburn to become an assistant coach at Tennessee, her alma mater.
[quote]I am very excited to have Ayesha join our program,[quote] Fortner said. [quote]She is a young up-and-comer in women[apos]s collegiate basketball and we are happy to have her come to Auburn. She is a proven recruiter as was evident by her terrific class at Central Michigan last year. She has the desire and wants to be successful in this profession.[quote]
Whitfield comes to Auburn after spending last season in a similar capacity at Central Michigan. At CMU, Whitfield served as recruiting coordinator and oversaw the guards. Her 2008 recruiting class was rated first in the Mid-American Conference by All-Star Girls Report and by the Detroit News and Detroit Free-Press.
Prior to her arrival at Central Michigan, Whitfield spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Oakland University, where she helped the Golden Grizzlies to a Mid-Continent Conference championship in 2006 and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Detroit native coached nine all-conference players while at Oakland, as well as four all-tournament players, two newcomers of the year, one conference tournament MVP and two professional players. Whitfield also helped Oakland to a WNIT automatic bid in 2006-07 thanks to a Mid-Continent regular-season title and a flawless road record. The Grizzles were the first Mid-Con team since 2002-03 to go undefeated on the road in conference play.
Before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Whitfield was head varsity girls[apos] basketball coach at Henry Ford High School in Detroit for one season (2003) after serving as an assistant for Cass Technical High School for a season (2002).
Whitfield[apos]s first coaching job came in 1999 as she was head junior varsity girls[apos] basketball coach at Arlington High School in St. Paul, Minn.
As a player, Whitfield lettered her freshman season at the University of Minnesota. Her career was cut short by injuries but she remained with the program as a student assistant until 1999. Whitfield graduated from Minnesota in 2002 with a bachelor[apos]s degree in materials science and engineering.