PULLMAN, Wash. – Rounding out her staff to full strength for the upcoming 2019-20 season, Washington State women's basketball head coach Kamie Ethridge has officially announced the hiring of Jason Chainey and Camille Williams as assistant coaches.

"Hiring is the most crucial aspect in building a successful program," said Ethridge. "As I begin year two, I am excited to announce that I, now, have the perfect staff in place to lead our program to new heights.  I am adding two new assistants that I believe meet the needs of our program."

"Let me first introduce Jason Chainey who comes to us from Australia," continued Ethridge. "I met Jason through my associate head coach, Laurie Koehn, who played for him in the Australian National League, or the WNBL. Jason brings years of experience coaching at every level and coaching in every role on a staff. He is known as one of the very best player development coaches in Australia. Jason has a brilliant basketball mind, driven work ethic, and a fun loving personality. He will add to our program experience, wisdom, high basketball IQ, and a gifted teaching ability. I know Jason will make a big impact in our program on and off the court."

Coming to the Palouse from Parkinson, Queensland, Australia, Chainey has spent over two decades coaching at the highest levels in Australian professional basketball. Most recently, Chainey was an assistant coach with the Adelaide Lightning in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The stint with the lightning would be his second stop in the WNBL after spending five years with the Logan Thunder including four years as the team's head coach. In 2013, Chainey's work on the bench would earn him recognition as a finalist for the WNBL Coach of the Year award. Additionally, Chainey spent his final two years with the Thunder coaching the likes of Koehn who was winding down an 11-year professional career.

When not coaching in the WNBL, Chainey coached in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) with the South West Metro Pirates as well as the Bundaberg Bears. It was with the Bears that Chainey was recognized as the Southern Cross Women's Head Coach of the Year in 2004. In addition to coaching in the professional ranks. Chainey has extensive experience in the Australian youth system coaching the Queensland U20 Team for four years. Known for his player development skills, Chainey spent three years as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA during the team's training camps in 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2016-17.

Chainey graduated with an associate diploma in business marketing from Yeronga Institute of Tafe in Brisban in 1996. He would go on to earn his diploma in management/human resource management from the University of Southern Qld, Russo Institute of Technology in Brisbane in 2000. Chainey and his wife Suzy have two children, Isabella and Jack.

"I am extremely excited to be involved with the WSU program and am looking forward to assisting Kamie in moving our program forward to the next level," said Chainey. "To be given this wonderful opportunity I am so very grateful and truly believe in the short time that I have been working with Kamie and Laurie that we have a wonderful team of coaches that will see this program reach great heights in the future, which is very exciting!"

"I am excited to announce the addition of Camille Williams to our staff," said Ethridge. "Camille brings an enormous amount of experience and expertise to our program. Her roots and ties to West Coast recruiting bases will provide inroads to crucial areas. Camille is a consummate pro in so many areas including recruiting, post development, marketing, and growing community out-reach programs."

Having spent 18 years on the bench at various programs, Williams comes to the Palouse from the Bay Area of California where she last spent one season as the head coach at the Academy of Art University. In one season with the Urban Knights, Williams recruited All-PacWest Team Honorable Mention Lily Perkins as well as Chanel Stuart who finished the year the second-leading scorer in the conference among freshman. Prior to ART U, Williams spent one season as the director of basketball operations at San Francisco after a nine year stretch at Nevada. During her tenure at Nevada as an assistant and later the associate head coach, Williams helped coach the Wolf Pack to their first postseason win in program history in the 2011 WNIT. In addition, Williams was directly responsible for the development of a pair of WNBA draft picks in the post including two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Mimi Mungedi (Tulsa Shock) and Tahnee Robinson (Connecticut Sun). Prior to Nevada, Williams assisted with guard and post player development and defense, served as the co-recruiting coordinator at UC Santa Barbara for three seasons. Williams' move to the Pac-12 will not be her first stint in the conference as she cut her teeth for six years as an assistant coach at California from 2000-05.

A standout two sport captain in basketball as well as track & field at the University of Wisconsin, Williams led the Badgers to a pair of NCAA Tournaments on the court and earned Big Ten All-Star honors in 1993. She was a two-time all-american in the high jump in 1995 and 1996 and competed in the 1996 Olympic Trials. She earned her bachelor's degree in agricultural business management from the Wisconsin in 1996. She then received her master's in educational leadership from Nevada in 2012.
"I am grateful and blessed to work with Coach Kamie Ethridge and her staff at Washington State University," said Williams. "The extent to Coach Ethridge's history of accomplishments in women's basketball as a player and coach is outstanding. I've always had great respect for her expertise, tremendous integrity in the coaching profession and appreciated her strong faith. I'm ecstatic to get in the trenches alongside the wonderful people she put together on her staff and team to create a family who's equally passionate and on a mission to elevate each other to new heights."

"The addition of Camille and Jason gives me so much confidence for the future of our program," finished Ethridge. "They are tremendous teachers and role models that are committed to helping grow and develop our student athletes. So, Coug Nation, help me welcome Jason Chainey and Camille Williams."