Lynne Roberts wasn't looking to leave as Utah women's basketball coach. Then she got a call from LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lynne Roberts wasn’t looking to leave the Utah women’s basketball team. Then she got a call from Los Angeles Sparks general manager Reagan Pebley that changed her thinking.

Roberts was introduced Thursday as coach of the Sparks, becoming the second coach to make the leap from college to the WNBA this month. Karl Smesko of Florida Gulf Coast got the Atlanta Dream job last week.

“I was 100 percent invested at Utah,” Roberts said. “It just kind of felt like this is a golden opportunity. As a competitor, the chance to coach the best in the world, it’s what I want.”

She replaces Curt Miller, who was let go in September and now is general manager of the Dallas Wings.

Roberts inherits a team that has a strong young nucleus of Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. The Sparks have the No. 2 pick in next year’s WNBA draft.

“We’ve got kind of a cool combination of some veteran leadership and then we’ve got a really dynamic young group,” Roberts said. “That’s a good roster right there and then we can keep working with it.”

Los Angeles finished 8-32 last season for the league’s worst record and has missed the playoffs for four straight years.

“I want to compete, I want to win now,” Roberts said. “I know that’s easier said than done, but I’m up for the challenge and I can’t wait to get started.”

Roberts is friends with Southern California women’s coach Lindsay Gottlieb and UCLA coach Cori Close.

“That was intentional,” Sparks general manager Reagan Pebley said. “That we were bringing somebody into this role that had existing relationships because again this is a community of women’s basketball that is exceptional.”

Roberts added, “I want to be the top of that pyramid with the Sparks.”

Roberts is returning to her native California. The 49-year-old coach grew up in the Northern California city of Redding. She played college ball at Seattle Pacific and then began coaching at Chico State before moving to Pacific and then Utah.

Roberts was 165-116 in nine-plus seasons at Utah and recently signed a six-year extension. She led the team to three straight NCAA Tournament berths and was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023. The Utes have started this season 3-1 and will be coached by Gavin Petersen, who was promoted from associate head coach.

“I poured 10 years of my life into that place and I loved it. I loved every minute of it,” Roberts said. “Where we started wasn’t great, where it is now is great and I’m very proud of that.”

Roberts said the current upheaval in college basketball including name, image and likeness, the transfer portal and Utah's move to the Big 12 this season had nothing to do with her leaving.

“I'm sitting here because it's a chance to coach the best people in the world and win a championship in LA. That's it,” she said.

“As a competitor and as someone that kind of thrives in pressure, being in this market, being in LA, it sounds like heaven to me."

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Beth Harris, The Associated Press