Following is a bio on our new host of TN PREP WEEKL’s new show- THE GIRLS, Daron Park. Great to have you on the team Daron.
Daron Park’s record as a Division I assistant coach is a remarkable 242-98 overall and 128-48 in conference play; with 6 conference championships, 10 postseason berths including 7 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 3 sweet sixteen’s and 3 elite eight finishes.
Park’s most recent coaching position was at Middle Tennessee State University where he helped Hall of Fame Coach Rick Insell and the Lady Raiders to two postseason appearances in two seasons. Park’s official title last season was Coordinator of Operations and Player Development and MTSU had an outstanding season going 23-11 with a second-round appearance in the WNIT tournament.
Prior to Middle Tennessee, Park served four years as head coach at Cal State Fullerton. Before his head coaching tenure at Cal State Fullerton, Park had stops at USC and at UC-Berkeley. While at Cal, along-side then head coach Lindsey Gottlieb, Park helped guide the Golden Bears to a 25-10 overall mark and their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 4 seasons which laid the foundation for a Final Four appearance the next season.
Prior to Cal, Park earned his first associate coaching job in 2009, when he served as an associate head coach at LA Tech for two seasons (2009-11) and helped lead the Lady Techsters to two 20-win seasons and two straight NCAA Tournament berths. The Lady Techsters also captured the school’s first WAC Tournament championship since the 2005-06 campaign during Park’s tenure.
During his time at LA Tech, Park worked closely with Lady Techster post players Shanavia Dowdell (Second Round, 2010, Washington Mystics) and Adrienne Johnson (Third round, 2011, Connecticut Sun) who both went on to play professionally in the WNBA.
Park went to LA Tech after spending two years as an assistant coach on Brenda Frese’s staff at Maryland where he was an integral part of the Terrapins success, helping them to a pair of Elite Eight appearances while claiming an ACC regular season and tournament title. During his first season with Maryland, Park served as the interim head coach while Frese was pregnant with twins. The Park-led Terps went 29-2, including the programs lone win at Duke University in the Brenda Frese era.
He was instrumental in helping Maryland earn a pair of top-five national rankings, a preseason WNIT championship, two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and 64 victories, including a 24-4 mark in ACC games. Park coached 2 WBCA First Team All-Americans and 4 WNBA First round draft picks at Maryland including the 2008 Nancy Lieberman Award winner Kristi Toliver
Before arriving at Maryland, Park got his Division I start as an assistant at Utah from 2004-07, where he helped guide the Utes to a 72-29 overall record, including 2 Mountain West championships, two NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight in his three years as an assistant. Park was responsible for guard development at Utah and had 2 players (Kim Smith, Shona Thorburn) drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft in 2006.
Park launched his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as an assistant at NAIA Westminster College. He then went on to serve as the head coach for the Griffins from 2000-04.
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