Becoming a Pioneer in Women’s College Basketball, Playing & Coaching College Hoops, and Celebrating a Legendary Career With Colleen Matsuhara

The Asian American Athlete

In this episode, host Justin Hong interviews Colleen Matsuhara on her incredible basketball journey as a player and coach.
During the episode, Colleen shares about her family’s background, where she grew up, and how got started playing basketball (2:59). She also talks about her basketball playing career, including playing collegiately at Sacramento City College and Sacramento State (4:56) and her experiences as an Asian American player (6:30).
She talks about her transition into coaching (8:04), what drew her to coaching as a profession (10:26), and the experience of winning a national championship while she was on the coaching staff for the UCLA women’s basketball team (12:36).
She discusses her head coaching experiences for the women’s basketball teams at the University of Nebraska and UC-Irvine (15:52), her experience as a member of the coaching staff for the LA Sparks (20:36), and if she thinks about returning to coaching (23:12).
She gives us an inside look at her experiences in the movie industry (24:53) and media industry (29:52), her experience as the Secretariat of Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA (31:06), and much more.

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