Karen Welliver has been the head coach for
the Cerritos College women’s basketball team
for the past 23 years. Although the year was
a difficult one, Welliver established
herself as one of the all-time greatest
women’s basketball coaches in California
community college history. With a 75-51
victory over San Mateo College on December
27 at the Fullerton Tournament, Welliver is
now one of only five coaches to win over 500
games and has a career mark of 507-250
(.670). Now set to begin her 24th
season, Welliver and second-year assistant
coach Steve Johnson are looking to improve
on last year’s season that was rife with
injuries tough losses. In her career,
Welliver has guided her teams to at least a
share of eight South Coast Conference
championships and they have reached the
state championships six times. Additionally,
during her tenure, Welliver has led her
teams to 17 20-win seasons, including a
stretch where they won 20 games in 17 of 19
seasons, but have not reached that total in
the last two seasons. Despite the losing
record, the Falcons did advance to the
Southern California Regional Playoffs for
the 14th year in a row and 20th
time in the past 21 seasons. Throughout her
career, Welliver has done a remarkable job
of maintaining a level of success at the
Norwalk campus and her teams have earned a
great deal off respect with their hard work
and dedication.
Whether it be a
predominantly freshmen laden team, or an
experienced one, Welliver has guided the
Falcons to either a South Coast Conference
championship or a second place finish in 16
of the past 18 seasons. Over one six-year
period, the Falcons completed each season
with less than 10 losses, while Welliver has
been honored by being named the SCC Coach of
the Year on four occasions.
After serving as
Jeanine Prindle's assistant coach for three
seasons, Welliver took over the helm and has
instilled a winning tradition that residents
in the community had never experienced
before from the women's program. Excellent
recruiting combined with the teaching
knowledge of Welliver, make the Falcons very
competitive in their quest to return to the
State Championships.
Welliver began her
coaching career at Magnolia High School in
Anaheim, where she coached the girl's
basketball team for three years and the
volleyball team for six years. Her
volleyball team captured one league
championship.
Known for her
athletic ability, Welliver played two years
of basketball at Cal State Long Beach, where
she squared off against three future Hall of
Fame selections. She also lettered in
basketball for three years in high school,
and also played volleyball for two seasons
and track for three years. She was honored
as her high school team’s team's Most
Valuable Player in both basketball and
volleyball.
Karen is married to
Bill Welliver, the brother of former
Cerritos College volleyball coach Nancy
Welliver and they reside in Anaheim.
Welliver earned her Bachelor's and Master's
Degree at Cal State Long Beach. |
Steve Johnson begins his second
season as an assistant coach for the
Cerritos women’s basketball program, as well
as a part-time instructor in the Physical
Education department. His major
responsibility with the team is to run the
defense, and the team responded last season
with several key wins due to defensive
stops, including a victory over eventual
state champion Mt. San Antonio College in
the Fullerton Tournament. Johnson is also a
major contributor to the recruitment of
players and works very hard with the
training and conditioning of individuals.