Wendi Wells (née Willits born November 18, 1978) is a girls basketball high school head coach in Shawnee, Oklahoma since 2008. Before starting her head coaching tenure, Willits had 3,345 points while playing high school basketball in

Fort Cobb, Oklahoma Fort Cobb is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 634 at the 2010 census. History Fort Cobb was established as a U.S. Army frontier post in Indian Territory on October 1, 1859, east of the present location of th ...

. With the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team from 1997 to 2001, Willits had 1574 points and set an Arkansas career record with 316

three-pointers A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

. As part of the Razorbacks, Willits and her team reached the final four during the 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and won the 1999

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournam ...

. After joining the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

in 2001, Willits and the team won the

2001 WNBA Championship The 2001 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 2001 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Los Angeles Sparks, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the Charlotte Sting, fourth-seeded ch ...

. As an assistant coach, Willits worked for the University of West Georgia and Shawnee High School in the early to late 2000s.

Early life and education

Wendi Willits was born in Chickasha,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

on November 18, 1978. During her childhood, Willits started playing basketball as a toddler and grew up in

. At Fort Cobb-Broxton, Willits played in 128 girls basketball games and scored 3,345 points. During her final year in high school, Willits was named player of the year by ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larges ...

'' in 1997. For her post-secondary education, Willits went to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

to study

exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

. While at Arkansas from 1997 to 2001, Willits played on the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team. In college tournaments, Willits and the Razorbacks made it to the final four at the 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and won the 1999

. During her 131 games with the Razorbacks, Willits had 1574 points overall. Leading up to the 2020-2021 season, Willits was seventh in all-time career points for Arkansas. With 316

, Willits has held the Arkansas career record for almost twenty years. She also received the Ed Steitz Award in 1999 for having the highest three point percentage in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

schools.

Arkansas statistics

Source

Career

In 2001, Willits started her WNBA career when she joined the

. During her only season with the Sparks, Willits played in thirteen regular season games and had seventeen points. That season, Willits played in four playoffs games and scored zero points. Of her playoff games, Willits played in the

where she and the Sparks defeated the Charlotte Sting. After being let go by the Sparks, Willits moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

for employment. After leaving the WNBA, Willits started her assistant coaching tenure with the University of West Georgia in 2003. After leaving for Shawnee High School in 2006, Willits continued her assistant coaching tenure until 2008. In December 2008, Wendi Wells began her girls basketball head coaching experience with Swahnee. During her head coach tenure, Wells won her hundredth game in 2013. Leading up to the 2020-2021 season, Wells had 194 wins and 50 losses with Shawnee.

Personal life

Wells is married and has one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willits, Wendi 1978 births Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball players Los Angeles Sparks players High school basketball coaches in Oklahoma Living people People from Chickasha, Oklahoma People from Caddo County, Oklahoma