Caitlin Collier, Assistant Coach

Caitlin Collier comes to UNLV after serving the past 11 years as the first and only head women's basketball coach at Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. The two-time Cal Pac Conference Coach of the Year led Menlo to an average of 20 wins over the past four seasons, including the 2006-07 season when the Oaks' finished at 25-3 (16-0 in conference play). Collier had a career record of 172-96 at the school after starting the program from scratch in 1997. She led the Oaks to three NAIA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 finish in 2006. The team also won three conference tournament championships, two regular-season championships, and in 2006-07 they finished the year was ranked No. 7 in the NAIA national top-25 rankings, the highest in program's history. The Oaks were also ranked No. 2 nationally in team defense during the 2006-07 season.

Collier was Menlo's Director of Athletics since July of 2003, the first woman to hold the position in the school's 75-year history, and saw the Oaks win the Cal Pac Conference All Sports Trophy in 2006-07. She was selected as president of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches Association in October 2007 as well.

Prior to Menlo, Collier spent one season at Dominican University (Calif.) as assistant coach and assistant athletic director during the 1996-97 season. She played one season for UC Davis (1989-90), and received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the school in 1993. Collier also earned a master of arts degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco in 1997, and completed a fellowship at Oxford University in the spring of 2002.

"Caitlin was very successful at the NAIA level and her teams were always among the best in the nation on the defensive end, leading the country in field goal percentage defense," UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier said of Collier. "She is relentless in her work ethic and will not rest in her efforts in bringing success to UNLV. I think she'll be a huge asset to our staff."
________________________________________________________________

Kari Duperron, Assistant Coach

Kari Duperron joined the UNLV staff in May of 2008. She has previous ties to head coach Kathy Olivier, as she spent a total of four seasons on the UCLA staff beginning in the 2003-04 season as the director of basketball operations when Olivier was the Bruins' head coach. She also spent a portion of the 2006-07 season as an interim assistant coach for Olivier. At UCLA, she oversaw the administrative side of the program which included work on recruiting, marketing, and also directed the summer and winter basketball camps.

Duperron spent last season as the sophomore boys' basketball coach for North Torrance High School in Torrance, Calif., and led the team to a second place league finish, while also serving as assistant coach for the varsity team that won its first league championship since 1972.

Duperron began her collegiate career at Cal Poly as a freshman walk-on, and would finish as a three-year starting point guard. She was a two-time team captain and named the 2003 Big West Conference "Hustle Player of the Year." Duperron earned her bachelor of science degree in marketing management from Cal Poly in June of 2003, and also received a master of arts degree in sport management from Long Beach State in February of 2006.

"Kari is a very hard-working and dedicated coach with excellent people skills," said Olivier. "She also comes from a strong basketball family and her outstanding knowledge of the sport will be one of her greatest additions to our staff here. Having worked for me for four years before, I know that Kari's loyalty and work ethic are superb. She is really good with individual work with the players, which will be important for us this coming season."
________________________________________________________________

Nikki Blue, Assistant Coach

Nikki Blue will be starting her first season as assistant coach at UNLV.

Blue played under Olivier for four seasons at UCLA (2003-06) and was a two-time Associated Press and Kodak/WBCA honorable mention All-American. One of just five players in conference history to be named All-Pac-10 all four years (all first-team selections), Blue finished her career at UCLA fifth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,797 points and was second in assists (602) and third in steals (325), which is also the second-highest in Pac-10 history.

Blue was a second-round draft choice (19th overall) of the Washington Mystics in the 2006 WNBA draft, and was in the top 10 among rookies during the 2006 season in both assists and free throw percentage. She played in 30 of 34 games last year for the Mystics and during this past offseason played overseas in Turkey, before returning back to the Mystics in April for her third year on the team. She graduated from UCLA in 2006 with a degree in history.
________________________________________________________________