Major coaching changes at two Atherton schools

Coleman will be taking over at Eastside College Prep, her alma mater. There was no word on Murphy’s future.

“I understand the allure of going back to Eastside College Prep,” M-A co-athletic director Steven Kryger said. “She had tears in her eyes when she told me. She told me this (the ECP position) is the only job she would leave M-A for.”

Coleman, a 2007 Stanford graduate where she walked on to the Stanford women’s basketball team before earning a full scholarship her junior and senior years, was in the unenviable position of having to replace the legendary Pam Wimberly, who had guided the M-A girls’ program for 41 years. Beginning in 1968 and lasting through the 2012 season. Coleman was an assistant for two years under Morgan Clyburn, Wimberly’s immediate replacement, before moving into the head coach’s chair beginning the 2014-15 season.

After taking the coaching reins, the Bears returned to the top of public school basketball on the Peninsula. In her five years, Coleman compiled a Peninsula Athletic League South Division record of 55-5, winning four division titles in a row and three straight PAL tournament championships.

Overall, Coleman had a win-loss record of 120-37, winning 20 games or more four straight years. She just missed the 20-win plateau this season, finishing 19-12. Her teams qualified for the Central Coast Section tournament all five years, including a pair of invitations to the CCS Open Division. The Bears made two CCS championship games, falling short in 2015 and again in 2018 and had a CCS record of 8-6. The team qualified for the Northern California bracket all five years of Coleman’s tenure, going 6-5 and advancing to the Division I semifinals in 2016 and the Division IV finals this past season.

“I think she is a phenomenal role model for the girls,” Kryger said. “Here’s a woman … who carries herself with class and respect. She demonstrates to [the players] how much she cares for them, while also holding them to a high standard on and off the court.”

Coleman be will taking over an Eastside College Prep program that is among the best in the state. She is replacing Donovan Blythe, who spent the last dozen years as the Panthers’ head coach. He already left for China to run a basketball academy. Blythe led the Panthers to back-to-back Division V state titles in 2016 and 2017.

Murphy had a very similar path as Coleman. Murphy is also a former Stanford player who graduated in 2011. She also was coming into a program where expectations were high as the team was a little more than a decade removed from their last of 10 CCS titles. While the Gators always seemed to struggle in West Bay Athletic League play — they were just 18-36 in league play under Murphy — she always had the team ready for the postseason. Beginning the 2015-16 season, Murphy’s second with the team, she took SHP to four straight CCS championship games, winning a pair of CCS Division IV titles in 2016 and 2018, while compiling a CCS record of 11-3. She was also 5-4 in four Nor Cal appearances, twice reaching the semifinals.

Murphy finishes her SHP tenure with an overall record of 84-57.