Houston Lady Cougar Basketball
Coaching Staff
Wade Scott
Associate Head Coach
Wade Scott enters his sixth season with the University of Houston women's basketball program and his second as the team's associate head coach.
The Cougars enjoyed one of their finest seasons in program history in Scott's first season as associate head coach during the 2010-11 campaign, posting a 26-6 overall record and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
In Scott's five years with the program, the Cougars have compiled an 86-66 overall record, while notching winning records in each of the last three seasons and posting a 77-47 mark in the last four years.
Scott joined the Cougars after spending the 2005-06 season at Trinity Valley Community College, where he served as an assistant coach. He was responsible for on-the-floor coaching, development of practice plans, recruiting of potential student-athletes and game preparation. At TVCC, he worked for legendary junior college head coach Leon Spencer. Spencer has won over 800 games in 43 seasons as head coach.
Prior to his time at TVCC, Scott was the head women's basketball coach at Grayson County College from 2003-05. At Grayson, Scott was instrumental in the development of UH player Ryan Meyers. His squad won 20 games during the 2004-05 season, finished second in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference with a 10-4 record and always qualified for the Region V Tournament. He coached a number of players who won NTJCAC honors during his two-year tenure.
From 2001-03, Scott had a 36-19 record as the head women's coach at Clarendon College, a member of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. While at Clarendon, he coached future UH standout Sancho Lyttle.
During his tenure, his team had its first 20-win season in over five years, earned a win over the No. 10 ranked New Mexico Junior College and had the school's first-ever win over South Plains College. Four members of his 2003 starting five signed with Division I universities to play basketball.
Scott was the head men's basketball coach at Western Oklahoma State College from 1995-2001. During his time, the team participated in the Bi-State Regional Tournament in four of his six years. He developed two All-Region players and four of his athletes received scholarships to Division I schools.
He spent the 1994-95 season as the head boy's basketball coach at Yale High School in Yale, Okla. He led a turnaround that saw the team win 11 games after earning just three victories the year before. Two of his varsity players earned basketball scholarships. His junior varsity team went undefeated. Scott also worked as an assistant baseball coach and a physical education instructor at the elementary, junior high and high school level.
His first coaching opportunity came during the 1993-94 season when Scott was an assistant men's coach at the New Mexico Military Institute. Working under head coach Reggie Franklin, Scott's duties included on-the-floor coaching, opponent scouting and game preparation. He was also one of only two people in the history of NMMI to work as a student teacher.
Scott played for three different teams during his collegiate career. He started at UT Arlington (1988), spent one year at Frank Phillips College (1989-90) prior to closing out his career at Eastern New Mexico from 1990-92.
The Roswell, N.M., native earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology and secondary education from Eastern New Mexico in 1993. In 2001, Scott received his master's degree, also in kinesiology from Midwestern State University. He and his wife Stephanie were married in June of 2006. They have a daughter, Taylor.
Ravon Justice
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Ravon Justice enters her second season with the University of Houston women's basketball program and the first as recruiting coordinator after spending the previous five years working on Todd Buchanan's staff at Houston Baptist as an assistant coach.
In Justice's first year with the program, the Cougars enjoyed one of their finest seasons in program history, posting a 26-6 overall record and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Under the tutelage of Coach Justice, junior point guard Porsche Landry enjoyed a breakout season, earning Conference USA First Team honors after averaging 14.8 points per game, which was 4.9 points per contest higher than her career best entering the season. Landry also became one of only four Cougars all-time with career totals of 1,000 points and 300 assists.
During her time at HBU, Justice helped lead the Huskies to a Red River Athletic Conference regular season title and a pair of RRAC tournament championships along with two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.
Prior to her tenure at HBU, Justice spent a season as an assistant coach at Grayson County College in Denison, Texas, assisting in recruiting efforts and monitoring of the student-athletes' academic progress. There she worked with current Houston associate head coach Wade Scott.
During her own collegiate playing career, Justice attended Nicholls State for one year before transferring to Clarendon College. As a Lady Bulldog, she was named an All-American in addition to receiving Western Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors and was a teammate of former Cougar great Sancho Lyttle while being coached by Scott.
Following her time at Clarendon, Justice played one season at Washington State before finishing her college career at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. As a senior at USAO, she averaged 19.3 points per game and captured All-Sooner Athletic Conference honors.
Justice earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from USAO in 2004 and received her master's degree in liberal arts from HBU.
Leah Fosters
Assistant Coach
Leah Foster was announced as assistant coach on June 27, 2011, after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Dartmouth University.
"Leah is a very classy young lady who will be a fantastic mentor for our student-athletes," said head coach Todd Buchanan. "From a basketball standpoint, she's very well rounded and knows the game. She's certainly a rising star in this profession and in the recruiting game, and I think she'll be instrumental in helping us obtain the upper echelon of talent."
"I am thrilled to join the University of Houston women's basketball program and become a part of the Cougar family," said Foster. "Coach Buchanan and his staff have developed such a high level of excellence in the short amount of time they have been on campus. This is such an amazing time in the history of the program, and it is an honor to be a part of it."
During her time at Dartmouth, Foster was responsible for scouting, recruiting, player development, scheduling and team operations.
Foster made an immediate impact upon arriving at Dartmouth for the 2008-09 season, as the Big Green posted an 18-11 record and a near-perfect 13-1 mark in Ivy League play en route to the conference title and a NCAA Tournament appearance.
In her three seasons at Dartmouth, Foster helped mentor four student-athletes to six All-Ivy selections, including the 2009 Ivy League Player of the Year.
Prior to her time in Hanover, N.H., Foster spent two seasons at Texas State, where she helped lead the Bobcats to a 39-26 overall record and the 2008 Southland Conference regular-season crown.
While at Texas State, Foster assisted with the day-to-day operations of the program including film exchange, recruiting, camp and player development.
Foster was a four-year letterwinner at St. Edward's University (Austin, Texas), and served as captain during her senior season as the Hilltoppers claimed the Heartland Conference Championship. Foster earned second team All-Heartland Conference accolades as a junior and ranks in the top 10 in career 3-point percentage and single-season free-throw percentage.
Foster also excelled off the court, as she was an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar and Heartland Conference Commissioner's Award recipient, as well as a member of the National Honor Society and Dean's List.
Foster graduated cum laude from St. Edward's with a degree in English in 2006 and earned her master's degree in physical education and sports management from Texas State in 2008.
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Rusty Laverentz
Director of Operations
Rusty Laverentz is in his second season at the University of Houston as the Director of Basketball Operations after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach on Todd Buchanan's Houston Baptist women's basketball staff.
In his duties at UH, Laverentz assists the team in scouting and preparing for opponents as well as overseeing the team's video exchange and summer camps.
Joining the HBU staff prior to the 2007-08 season, Laverentz assisted in the task of transitioning the Huskies' program to NCAA Division I. While at HBU, he was involved in all aspects of the program with an emphasis on recruiting, team travel, equipment and scouting. He also coordinated the program's summer camps.
Prior to making the move to the Bayou City, Laverentz spent two years as the head women's basketball coach and a professor of physical education at New Mexico Junior College. On the court, his teams' compiled a 28-30 record. Before being named head coach, he served for five seasons as an assistant with the Thunderbirds. He also served as the program's camp director in addition to assisting in numerous basketball camps at different colleges and university across the country.
Laverentz spent three years as a graduate assistant with the women's basketball team at Arkansas State.
During his college days, Laverentz was a four-year letterwinner in baseball at Missouri Western State in addition to serving as a student assistant with the school's women's basketball program.
He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Missouri Western State before receiving his master's degree in physical education from Arkansas State.
Laverentz lives in Houston and enjoys playing golf in his spare time.
Chandi Jones
Video Coordinator
Former All-American and top-10 WNBA Draft pick Chandi Jones is in her first season as video coordinator with the Houston women's basketball program.
"My short-and long-term vision has been to have former players come back to the staff and reunite as part of our basketball family," head coach Todd Buchanan said. "For this to come full circle in such a short amount of time, it's remarkable. The word exciting doesn't do full justice to how I feel about having Chandi back at the University of Houston."
As video coordinator, Jones will handle preparation for practices, scouting reports, game editing for scouting and postgame editing. Jones will also be responsible for building relationships with high school coaches and serve as an assistant camp director as well as direct and coordinate the staff's coaches' clinic.
"This is a great opportunity to come back to the University of Houston," Jones said. "I have so much pride in this school, and I took pride in representing it when I played. I'm grateful to be able to contribute to getting the program back to where it belongs."
Jones, who played at Houston from 2000-04, is heralded as one of the greatest basketball players ever, male or female, to attend the University of Houston. Jones will reunite with Buchanan, who served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator during her four years with the Cougars.
The Conference USA Female Athlete of the Decade is the all-time Houston and C-USA leading scorer with 2,692 points, which ranks 21st nationally, while placing 14th all-time in the NCAA with a career 23.6 points per game.
Jones reached double figures in 114 consecutive games, marking every contest of her career, while claiming the NCAA scoring title in 2003 with 27.5 points per game.
The Bay City, Texas, native led Houston to its greatest season in school history during the 2003-04 campaign, as the Cougars went 28-4 overall and claimed both the C-USA regular season and tournament title as well as capturing the school's first NCAA Tournament victory. The Cougars earned a No. 9 national ranking in the final Associated Press poll of the season.
Jones, a 2004 Kodak All-American, became the first Houston women's basketball player to be chosen in the first round of the 2004 WNBA Draft. She was selected with the eighth overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury and later traded to the Detroit Shock.
"She's not only one of the greatest players; she's also one of the classiest and most gifted young professionals that's going to give our program the respect and draw the attention that it so well deserves, and that only Chandi Jones could bring," Buchanan continued. "She will be an incredible mentor to our student-athletes."
On Feb. 5, 2005, Jones had her number 13 retired, the first such honor for a Houston women's basketball player, while being inducted into the Houston Athletics Hall of Honor on Nov. 4, 2010.
Tiffanie Gupton
Coordinator for Operations
Tiffanie Gupton is in her third season with women's basketball program, serving as the team's operations and administrative assistant.
The Katy, Texas, native manages the day-to-day administration of the program while coordinating film exchange, managing on the road operations for the team and serving as a liaison to the athletic department staff.
Before moving to women's basketball, Gupton worked as a sports information assistant for UH where she worked with the cross country and the softball programs, while assisting with football game day operations.
Gupton is a 2008 graduate from the University of Houston where she earned her bachelor's degree in communications with a concentration in public relations. Throughout her time as a student, she worked as a student-assistant in the sports information office.
She is married to Brian Gupton and the couple lives in Houston.
