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By Ray Hamill — For much of her playing career, Bree Northern didn’t really see a future for herself in coaching.

But once she was given the opportunity and got a taste of what it’s really about, in her own words she fell in love with it.

This year, Northern returns to the North Coast to take over as head coach of the College of the Redwoods women’s basketball program and she’s looking forward to the opportunity.

“I’m super excited,” she said. “I’m excited for the opportunity and so grateful that CR and the community believes in me to take on this role.”

Northern, a 2018 Arcata High graduate who played two years at CR, takes over the team from Jain Tuey, who stepped down this year after seven years in charge.

It was during her senior season at Simpson University in Redding that Northern first thought about coaching.

“I didn’t really even have any thoughts I would be a coach,” she said. “And then in my senior year in college, my coach wanted me to stay on and become part of the staff. I said I’d give him one year and fell in love with it.”

Northern spent two years as an assistant coach at Simpson and says the experience was extremely gratifying.

“To see the players progress throughout the year was amazing,” Northern added. “To be able to coach them was so rewarding.”

Northern takes over a CR program that enjoyed plenty of success under Tuey, despite the obvious logistical challenges coaching in such a rural area.

The former head coach guided the Corsairs to a conference championship in 2020 — a team that Northern was a part of — and three playoff appearances in her six seasons (there was no season in 2020/21 because of the pandemic).

And CR Athletic Director Bob Brown says Tuey will be missed, while adding they are happy to bring Northern on board. 

“We want to thank Jain sincerely for her outstanding service and commitment to the program and department over the past seven years,” he said. “She has been instrumental in the growth and culture of the women’s team, both on the court and in the classroom, and experienced great success.

“We are also extremely grateful that an alum of Jain’s program is starting her own head coaching journey here at CR.”

Northern will lean on Tuey as she adjusts to her first head coaching job.

“She’s been super supportive,” the new coach said. “And she’s actually going to mentor me throughout the season, and that will be very helpful.”’

The new coach says she learned a lot from her old coach during her time playing at CR.

“Just the way she ran her program and her practices,” Northern added. “She got us to work as hard as we possibly could and that instilled a strong work ethic.”

Northern, who was officially hired two weeks ago, met with her new players last week, eight of whom are expected back from a playoff team in 2023/24.

She also has already added a ninth player to the roster, former Ferndale Wildcat Carly Carmesin.

Northern, who was CR’s starting point guard on the 2019/20 conference championship team, was named to the GVC All-Freshman team in her first season with the Corsairs and she received First-Team All-Conference honors as a sophomore.

At Simpson, she led the Red Hawks in nearly every major statistical category, including most minutes played, 3-pointers made, assists, steals and total points, averaging 11 points per game. She received Second-Team All-Conference honors as a senior in 2022.

As for what fans can expect to see from the CR women next season, Northern should bring an exciting brand of ball to the local community college, much as she did as a player.

“It depends a little bit on the players and what personnel we have, but I like to play fast,” she said.

And the Corsairs are stoked to have their former player back.

“We are excited to welcome Bree back into our department to lead the women’s basketball program,” Assistant Director of Athletics Ryan Bisio said. “Bree already possesses a stellar history as a high character Corsair, and we believe she is the right fit to transition us from coach Tuey into the future. 

“We hope her ambitious energy will radiate throughout our building and into the student-athletes she develops.”

Northern is close to adding two more players to the roster, which begins strength and conditioning next week before the first official team practice on Oct. 1.

“I’m just really excited to get going,” she said. “I can’t wait to get out on the court.”