La Cañada High School has officially found the coach to take over its varsity girls’ basketball program after the La Cañada Unified School District approved the hiring of Jordan Franey on Tuesday.
Franey succeeds Sarah Beattie, who resigned as varsity girls’ basketball coach last month after three successful seasons.
Dean of Athletics Kristina Kalb said Franey’s knowledge of the school and community gave her an edge over the other candidates.
“It amazes me what people don’t know going into an interview,” Kalb said. “She was smart and had seen us in tournaments. She knew who we were and what makes us special and different. That’s important because not all schools are the same. What she shared with us matches our own vision of where we see the program going.”
Beattie guided the Spartans to their most successful season ever in 2016 when they played in CIF Southern Section and CIF State Southern Regional championship games for the first time. She stepped down with an overall record of 75-16, including a 30-0 record in Rio Hondo League play.
The varsity squad recently finished the winter season with 23-5 season, including a CIF-SS Division 2AA first-round playoff victory over La Verne Bonita.
“Our girls’ basketball program has done very well the past several years, and we wanted to make sure whoever was coming in would continue that legacy,” said Kalb. “We have a lot of students coming back next year, and we want to make sure they have what they need to succeed, grow and move forward.”
The new coach inherits a program that loses only four players to graduation and has a solid foundation with Brooke Yasuda, Emmie Lew, Lauren Scoville and Morgan Tsujihara.
Franey, 30, is no stranger to success. The former McDonald’s All-American girls’ basketball nominee played at UC Santa Barbara and was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007. She helped the Gauchos, who compete in Division I, win three Big West Conference championships and qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2009.
After graduating with bachelor’s in history and minors in exercise and sports science and education and applied psychology, Franey turned down offers to play overseas and joined the Whittier College coaching staff. She earned her master’s in education and physical education and history teaching credential while serving as a women’s basketball assistant coach from 2010 to 2012.
Franey then joined the Cal Lutheran women’s basketball coaching staff in 2012 and helped the Regals tie a school record for most wins in a season (23). The team won its conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2013, she moved to North Carolina to serve as Pfeiffer University’s head assistant women’s basketball coach and oversaw all basketball operations.
The former Gaucho returned to California in 2015 to teach history and join the girls’ basketball coaching staff at La Puente Bishop Amat.
Franey received an opportunity to take over a program in 2016 and became San Gabriel High School’s varsity girls’ basketball coach, where she led the Matadors to consecutive playoff berths.
“Her resume speaks for itself,” Kalb said. “She has great experience and is very authentic. I appreciated that authenticity and the way she spoke of the values and goals she has for the team.
“I feel really fortunate that we could get a high-caliber coach who has significant playing experience and has been coached at a variety of levels and has significant coaching experience. An experienced athlete coach is wonderful for our girls.”
