Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- dwynn@uw.edu
Derek Wynn enters his fourth season as the Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach at Washington. The Huskies have steadily improved while rebuilding over the last three years, posting an overall record of 31-61 at UW including an 13-17 record in 2019-20. Washington posted its most overall wins (13) and conference wins (5) in the Wynn era despite another tough schedule. The Huskies were able to knock off Big Ten power Iowa to go 3-0 at the Puerto Rico Classico and ended the home portion of the schedule with an impressive 74-68 upset victory over No. 8 UCLA.
In 2018-19, Washington went 11-21 despite playing the 14th-toughest schedule based on average opponent winning percentage according to herhoopstats.com. Despite a rough regular-season, the Huskies made an impressive run through the Pac-12 Tournament to end the year. Washington entered as the No. 11 seed in the tournament, but knocked off the No. 6 seed Utah 64-54 in the first round. The Huskies then pulled off a massive upset, beating the No. 3 seed (and No. 11 ranked) Oregon State 68-67 to reach the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals for just the third time in program history.
In the midst of a tough, rebuilding campaign in his first season at UW, Wynn helped the Huskies become one of the toughest teams to face in the conference in 2017-18. Despite its 7-23 overall record, Washington led the Pac-12 in turnovers forced at 17.80 per game. The Huskies also ranked third in steals with 9.3 per game and was second in three-pointers made at 8.5 made per contest.
Prior to coming to Washington, Wynn was the associate head coach at Long Beach State University. Over his last three years at LBSU, Wynn helped guide the Beach to three consecutive 20-win campaigns, highlighted by the 2017 Big West conference tournament championship that granted Long Beach State its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1992.
In 2015-16, LBSU went 24-9, marking its most victories in a season since 1990-91. The 49ers tied for second in the Big West and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament, while the campaign culminated with the program's third WNIT bid in the last four years.
In 2014-15, Long Beach State put together one of its best campaigns in recent history. The Beach (22-10) reached 20 wins for the first time in 15 years and was receiving votes in the Associated Press Women's Basketball Poll for three-straight weeks. They raced out to a 17-1 mark, the best start for LBSU since 1986-87. That run included a 15-game win streak which featured victories over LSU and nationally-ranked Cal. The 49ers would go on to finish fourth in the Big West and earn a WNIT berth.
In 2013-14, the Beach posted its first winning record in nine years, finishing with an overall mark of 17-15. Long Beach State also made its fifth-straight Big West Tournament appearance where it advanced to the quarterfinals.
In 2012-13, LBSU (16-16) earned an at-large bid to the WNIT, the first for the program since 2000. The 49ers ended up hosting eventual runner-up Utah, marking the first-ever postseason basketball game to be held in the Walter Pyramid.
In 2011-12, Wynn helped engineer Long Beach State's run to the Big West Tournament championship game. The Beach defeated top-seeded Cal Poly and No. 2 seed Cal State Northridge to reach the title game for the first time since 2001.
In 2009-10, the 49ers were fourth in the conference standings with a 9-7 record, earning a bye into the Big West quarterfinals. LBSU returned to the conference tournament in 2010-11.
Prior to Long Beach State, Wynn served as an assistant at USC from 2004-09. In each of his first two seasons, the Trojans advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to his stint at USC, Wynn was an assistant at Pepperdine (2000-04). During his time in Malibu, he helped lead the Waves to five postseason appearances and three West Coast Conference titles.
Before entering the college ranks, Wynn spent six seasons (1994-99) as the assistant boys' basketball coach at Upland High School, where he helped the Highlanders earn five consecutive CIF-Southern Section playoff berths. The 1996 and 1997 teams captured the Baseline League championship, while the 1999 team notched a school-best 25-4 mark. During his time at Upland, Wynn coached 12 athletes who went on to play collegiate basketball, including six Division I players.
In addition to coaching, Wynn taught physical education during the 1998-99 school year at St. Edward's School in Corona, Calif., and worked extensively as a substitute teacher in the Upland Unified School District. As a prep, Wynn played basketball at Upland High, where he garnered All-Baseline League accolades as a senior.
Wynn earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton in 1996 and a master's and teaching credential from Azusa Pacific in 1999.
Wynn is married to Washington's head coach Jody Wynn and the couple has two daughters, Jada and Kaeli.
