| Kim Gervasoni |
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Coaches are often influenced by their family and former coaches, and this is especially true for Kim Gervasoni, who begins her third year as a member of the Sun Devil women's basketball coaching staff.
For the native Californian, the development of her coaching style started with watching her father coach little league baseball for over 15 years.
"My father was a passionate and disciplined coach. His teams won a lot of games and had fun in the process. But what I remember the most was how much his players respected him and how much he impacted their lives. It was his influence that first gave me the bug to become involved in athletics."
And 22 years later, Gervasoni has never wavered from her desire to be involved with the game of basketball as both a player and a coach. Her coaching style is made up of a combination of the coaches that she played for and coached with.
"Basketball was truly a blessing in my life. The challenges that I went through have made me a stronger woman. The game taught me life lessons. I continue to grow and challenge myself every day."
Gervasoni started her playing career at Westmont High School in San Jose, Calif. Her coach, Mike Riley, had played baseball for her father. She had a very successful high school career, earning MVP league honors her senior year. She then went on to De Anza College in Cupertino, California and played for coach Debi Schafer. At De Anza the team won the conference two seasons in a row. Her sophomore year Gervasoni was awarded MVP of the Golden Gate Conference and 1st Team All State. She finished up her career at California State University-Fresno playing for legendary coach, Bob Spencer. It was while she played for these coaches, that Gervasoni began taking notes on qualities that she would use down the road in her own coaching career.
"Mike made our teams play against boys. At this time I was also spending a lot of time at the park playing with my five brothers. I learned to play the game very physical and to not ever be afraid or intimidated. Coach Schafer was an incredible motivator. She got 100 percent out of every player on the team. It was her influence and my experiences at De Anza that made me want to coach at the JC level. At Fresno State I was just an average player. My experience at Fresno State taught me how to be a role player. This would help me relate to all my players down the road once I became a coach. Coach Spencer was extremely disciplined and organized. He taught me how important and beneficial it was to run a tight ship."
After Gervasoni finished her playing career and earned her bachelor's degree in Exercise Physiology from CSU Fresno in 1988, she taught at Milpitas High School while pursuing her master's degree in Physical Education at CSU Hayward which she earned in 1991. She spent one season coaching high school basketball before taking her first collegiate coaching job at her alma mater De Anza College in 1992.
Gervasoni spent two seasons at De Anza College as an assistant coach where she helped guide the team to a 49-16 record and met her husband Mike, who has now coached at De Anza since 1987. In 1992, she was inducted into the De Anza College Hall of Fame for her playing accomplishments.
"Coaching with Mike was an invaluable experience. It was while coaching with him that I truly learned to become a technician of the game, especially in terms of offense."
After coaching at De Anza, Gervasoni got the opportunity of a lifetime. She was offered the head coaching job at Solano Community College in Suisun, California. In eight years at the helm Gervasoni compiled a career record of 207-77 (.729) and led her team to five straight Bay Valley Conference championships and three appearances in the California State Championships. A 1997 inductee into the California Community College Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, Gervasoni was a three-time Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year.
In 1995-96, Gervasoni had one of the best seasons of her coaching career when she led her team to a 32-4 record, the Bay Valley Conference title and an appearance in the semifinals of the state championships. She garnered a number of regional and national awards, including California Coaches Association, California Community College, Conference, District 8 Junior College and Budget Rent A Car Coach-of the Year accolades. What she is most proud of is that in her eight years as head coach over 50 players went on to receive their four year degrees and over 30 players earned basketball scholarships.
"My experience at Solano is one I will cherish forever. I was blessed to have coached many talented, hard working individuals. The players believed in our philosophy and were the main reason for our success. I also had an incredible coaching staff, strong community support and a loyal administration behind the program."
During her coaching career, Gervasoni had a friend and colleague named Charli Turner Thorne. Gervasoni and Turner Thorne followed each other's careers closely. In fact three of Gervasoni's former players were recruited and played for Charli Turner Thorne including ASU Academic All-Pac-10 selection Spring Steed. It was in the spring of 2000 that Charli called Gervasoni with an opportunity to join her staff at Arizona State. Gervasoni was faced with a difficult decision but she opted for a new opportunity and a new challenge and headed for Tempe.
"I am so grateful to Charli for allowing me to be a part of the Sun Devil family. I have had the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the Division I level. The program has won back to back Pac-10 Championships because the people involved believe in Charli and her philosophy. She has shown me that you can win and have one of the most successful programs in the country doing it the right way. I have the utmost respect for Charli and the players, the coaching staff and the administration at ASU.
"Arizona State has all the resources to help us reach our goal of winning a national championship. We have the best facilities in the country and an athletic director who supports us completely. Student-athletes have available to them at Arizona State highly rated degree programs, excellent faculty and tremendous academic resources. Our coaching staff is dedicated to the student-athlete and their well-being, academic and career goals and athletic experience."
According to Turner Thorne, Gervasoni adds great experience and work ethic in addition to basketball knowledge to ASU.
"Kim has brought in a tremendous work ethic, and as a highly successful head coach, she has a very high level of expertise and is a great communicator on and off the court. With Kim and Joseph having been head coaches, it's like having three head coaches on our staff.
"Kim has also contributed offensive creativity that has been instrumental in our progress and success and is a good teacher on the floor. She will call our offenses during the game and takes a lot of pride in that."
