BATON ROUGE – LSU women’s basketball head coach Nikki Caldwell has finalized her coaching staff for her first season with the Lady Tigers and all three of her assistant coaches at UCLA have joined her in Baton Rouge.
Former UCLA assistants Tasha Butts, Tony Perotti and Stacie Terry will serve as assistant coaches at LSU. Jon Silver, a UCLA graduate, joins the program as director of basketball operations. Angel Elderkin, former assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Virginia, will handle duties as director of video operations.
“Part of being successful at any level is surrounding yourself with great people, and I am very fortunate to have Tasha, Tony, Stacie, Jon and Angel on board with me here at LSU,” said Caldwell. “I have the utmost confidence in them and they will help develop our student-athletes into not only great basketball players but tremendous people. They have a vast amount of in-game coaching and recruiting experience, great work ethics and a love for the game. They are extremely excited and honored to be a part of the LSU family.”
Butts, Perotti and Terry were all on Caldwell’s staff during her three-year tenure at UCLA. The Bruins became a national power under their watch, producing two NCAA Tournament appearances, a 72-26 record, two Pac-10 Conference runner-up finishes and elite recruiting classes ranked among the best in America by ESPN HoopGurlz.
The 2010-11 Bruins earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, recorded the fewest losses in school history (five) and compiled the most regular season wins in program history (26). UCLA set a school record in scoring defense, allowing only 55.3 points per game. In addition, Caldwell’s staff signed the nation’s third-ranked recruiting class according to ESPN.com.
Butts, a standout player at the University of Tennessee and former WNBA player, was instrumental in the development of All-Pac-10 guards Darxia Morris, Doreena Campbell and Markel Walker. Prior to UCLA, Butts served as an assistant coach at Duquesne and got her start in the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant under legendary coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee.
Butts, a native of Milledgeville, Ga., was a proven winner as a player at Tennessee, helping the Lady Vols to a 124-17 record in her four seasons from 2000-04. Tennessee had a Sweet 16 appearance in her freshman season and advanced to the 2002 Final Four in her sophomore campaign. She then helped the Lady Vols to back-to-back national championship games in her junior and senior seasons of 2003 and 2004.
Prior to his success at UCLA, Perotti spent four seasons as an assistant at Northern Arizona University, including two seasons as the associate head coach. He served primarily as the team’s recruiting coordinator, game scouting coordinator and in the development of the perimeter players. In his four seasons at NAU, Perotti helped the Lumberjacks compile 71 victories, win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and advance to the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Perotti, a native of Millerton, N.Y., officially joined the collegiate coaching ranks as an assistant for five seasons at the University of San Francisco. He was the team’s top assistant from 2000-04. He also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator in 2000 and 2002-03. During that time frame, he signed two Junior College All-Americans, three West Coast Conference Freshmen of the Year, as well as international players from Germany and Denmark.
Perotti also has ties to Tennessee, working as a summer camp instructor and serving as a practice player for the Lady Vols. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Tennessee in 1999.
Terry arrives at LSU with 10 years of Division I assistant coaching experience, which includes tenures at UCLA, Southern Miss, Dayton, Illinois and Louisville. She has coached 13 players who played professionally either in the WNBA or overseas.
Terry spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois from 2004-07 under legendary Illini coach Theresa Grentz. Her Illini recruiting classes ranked among the top 20 in the nation. She also coached at the University of Dayton during the 2003-04 season and she was an assistant at Louisville from 2001-03.
At Louisville, Terry’s role included recruiting, scouting, player development, summer camps and serving as a liaison for the program’s community service outreach. The Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and to the WNIT in 2002. Terry, a native of San Diego, Calif., was an All-Southland Conference guard at the University of Texas-Arlington in 1998.
Elderkin will head up the Lady Tiger’s video coordination efforts after coaching for four seasons at Virginia under coach Debbie Ryan. Elderkin spent two years as the Cavaliers’ recruiting coordinator and she was also responsible for opponent scouting, player development, on-court instruction and practice and game preparation. She was instrumental in signing the nation’s 13th-ranked class for 2011 according to ESPN HoopGurlz.com.
Elderkin came to Virginia after spending two seasons at Tennessee, including the Lady Vols’ run to the 2007 NCAA Championship. That year, she worked as the team’s video coordinator, handling all aspects of film and video. The East Providence, R.I., native played collegiately at Southern Maine from 1995-99.
Silver, a native of Dresher, Pa., joins the LSU staff after serving as film coordinator and staff associate at UCLA. During the 2010-11 season, Silver oversaw the Bruins’ film exchange, post-game film breakdowns, live capturing of games, weekly highlight tapes and all other film related matters. As the staff associate, Silver assisted the coaching staff in their recruiting efforts and acted as a liaison between various offices within the athletic department.
Silver graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a degree in history and political science and Phi Beta Kappa honors. As an undergraduate, he spent three seasons as a practice player for UCLA, including one season as head manager and scout team captain.