For the last 33 seasons, the one constant at a Cerritos College women's basketball game was that Karen Welliver would be at the helm leading the Falcons. But starting the 2015-16 season, there will be a new face leading the charge after Welliver announced her retirement this week. During her tenure, Welliver posted a 684-352 record with 11 South Coast Conference championships, seven state tournament appearances, 21 20-win seasons and close to 90 players that received scholarships. At one time, Welliver was the all-time leader in wins by a California Community College women's basketball coach. She finishes her career ranked second on the all-time list.

On December 22, 2010, Welliver became one of only two coaches in California Community College women's basketball history to win her 600th career game. A 58-57 South Coast Conference win at Pasadena City College moved Welliver into the elite 600-win club with Ventura College head coach Ned Mircetic. Back in 2009, Welliver held the record for most career wins, but was passed by Mircetic the following season. Welliver became the state's leader in career wins back on January 21, 2009 with a 54-51 overtime win against El Camino College with her 564th win. At that time, she passed Tom Martinez, who won 563 games at San Mateo College.

"Making the decision to retire was something (husband) Bill and I discussed before it was finally decided," said Welliver, who guided the Falcons to an 18-13 record this season and advanced to the 2nd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. "I've loved my time at Cerritos College and working with some great people and coaching some amazing kids. But Bill and I want to be able to spend more time together and travel. He's been such a great supporter of me and the team over the years. He comes with me to watch high school games and joins us on all of our road games. I don't know if I could have made it this long without him by my side."

Over the years, Welliver has had a long list of assistant coaches by her side. In total, there have been 21 people to serve as an assistant coach under Welliver, with the longest run of five years held by Trisha Raniewicz, who left after the 2012-13 season to take an assistant coaching position at Pepperdine University. Of the 21 assistant coaches, 10 of them played for Welliver, while all went on to be head coaches or continue coaching at another school.

"What do you say about a person that has touched my life in so many positive ways," said Patrice Johnson, who played from 1989-91 and coached from 1993-96 and was the conference Player of the Year in 1991. "She was so much more than a coach when I didn't even know I needed more than that. Karen is such a caring, kind-hearted person that wanted the best for everyone that came through her program. It wasn't just about basketball with Karen. "She wanted us to be productive in all areas in our lives.

The same sentiment is shared by Babita (Singh) Artabasy, who played from 1994-96 and served as an assistant coach from 1998-2000. "Karen has been one of the most influential people in my life. She not only showed me how to be a great player and coach, she inspired me to become who I am today," said Singh, who coached her Hillsborough (FL) girl's high school basketball team to the 6A State Championship and was recently named the school's Assistant Principal.

"She taught me that, as a coach, you have the chance to change and mold lives and our influence is something that will help guide young people," added Artabasy. "I am who I am today because of Karen Welliver. When I got to Cerritos, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. She made me want to be become a health teacher and basketball coach. She is a great mentor, teacher, coach, and whatever else you need her to be. By far, she was the most influential coach in my life."

The same sentiment was shared by Erica Nelson, who played for Welliver from 1991-93, "Playing for Karen was not only impactful to my development as a basketball player, but also my growth as a person. I have said many times that my years at Cerritos were the best of my college career and a big part of that memory was the relationship I had with Karen. Though I left California in 1997 for graduate school, then progressed to living and working in New York City before moving to my current residence of Columbia, SC, each time I came back home for a visit, seeing Karen was something I always tried to squeeze into my schedule because of the relationship we shared."

"You know, helping kids grow up and then watching their progress in life has always been the biggest thrill of my career," added Welliver. "It's more than wins and losses. It's about their maturation process and finding out they finished their degree and have started a career. That's what I feel most blessed about each day. It's made being a coach and teacher so rewarding for me."

Welliver needed only to look across the dinner table while growing up to find her inspiration to be a coach. Her dad, Tom, was a coach and then athletic director for 27 years at Magnolia High School. They would sit together and read the sports pages and when her father was coaching, she would wait for the right time in a game to go up to him and ask for ice cream money. She knew he would never decline her request. And since she's become a teacher and coach, Welliver has continued what she saw growing up and doesn't decline assistance from students when they ask for help.

"My dad called me the other day and thanked me," recalled Welliver. "On quite a few occasions over the years he would come with us on the road and when he didn't, I always called him and we talked about the game. My dad said he always felt connected to the team because of our talks. He would ask if the team needed him to come help them shoot free throws (laughing). I learned so much about coaching and how to treat people by just watching him coach and interact with people."

When Welliver was a junior in Magnolia High School, she helped a student learn how to spike a volleyball and the satisfaction she felt helping someone learn how to do something sparked a desire to spend her life's work replicating that feeling. After a playing career that included being a three-sport letter winner in high school, she spent two seasons playing volleyball at Cal State Long Beach, where she was coached on the JV team her freshman year by Jeanine Prindle. The two would go on to work together at Cerritos and have been friends for close to 40 years. 

"When I was hired at Cerritos College, I was coaching both volleyball and basketball without any assistant coaches," said Prindle, who spent 22 years as the Falcons volleyball coach. "After four years, I was able to hire an assistant basketball coach. I started looking for Karen. She had been a freshman player at CSULB on the first team I ever coached - the JV team. It was an amazing team with Karen playing a big part of our championship year. She went on to play on the varsity team for the next three years and I left to take the job at Cerritos. When I was looking for an assistant coach, I remembered Karen for her love of basketball, her basketball smarts and her integrity as a teammate. She was the one former player that I thought had all of the qualities that would make her a great coach and colleague to work with. I had to go through the alumni association at CSULB to find her. She was coaching basketball at Magnolia high school when I contacted her and she decided to join my program."

After serving as an assistant coach on the basketball team with Prindle for three years, Welliver was named the head coach in 1983. As a 26-year-old head coach, Welliver was in search of her first of what would be many assistant coaches and found Michael Scarano.

"I met Karen through mutual coaching colleagues," said Scarano, who coached with Welliver in her first two seasons and is now the Associate Director of Athletes and Director of Compliance at Cal Baptist University. "I could see at the time that she was someone who would be very successful just by the way she treated her players and her approach to the game itself. She was in the process of building her program the right way. Karen had great clarity within the program and knew what she wanted to do. But along with her approach to coaching, she showed in the early years of her career that instilling life skills in her players to prepare them for the future was extremely important. There was nobody more concerned with the welfare of her players than Karen and her integrity was beyond reproach. It was a tremendous delight to work with Karen."

The impact Welliver had on her players early in her career continue to surface up until her final game as the head coach for the Falcons. For over 20 years, both Shelley (Bowcutt) Hall and Jowana (Yates) McCall, who combined to play from 1983-86, have worked at the scorer's table at home games. Both stated that it was their love of Cerritos College, the women's basketball program, and especially Welliver that kept them coming back. 

"Karen is one of the sweetest and most positive people I have ever met," said McCall, who played on Welliver's second team in 1983-84. "She taught me things about basketball that I never got a chance to learn while in high school. Karen added a positive light into my life and I love her, the program and the college."

Added Hall, "Playing for Karen Welliver couldn't have been a more meaningful and pleasurable two years. Karen has such an impact on her players not only on the court but off the court. She is not only a coach but a mentor and friend. Anyone who had the opportunity to play and learn from Karen should treasure that time. She loves the game of basketball and cares for each and every one of her players. I had so many memorable times playing for Karen and I am so happy to call her my friend."

It was in Hall's second year that the program experienced their first taste of success. The school's all-time leading scorer led them to their first conference championship in school history and reached the finals of the state championship, where they lost to Fullerton, 61-50. It was the first of seven state tournament appearances for Welliver and her teams.

"I remember that year waking up and getting the newspaper to see how the other teams in our conference did the night before," recalled Welliver. "This was before technology gave us instant information and I remember being in my house and 6:00 a.m. screaming because we had won the first championship in school history. But you know, it seemed that whenever we had a really good chance, there were always a couple other teams that were very strong. I'll never forget our game against San Jose City in the semi-finals in 1998 and Bren Arena in Irvine. They were easily the favorite and we gave them the hardest game of their season. (All-State point guard) Lisa Moya had gone down with a knee injury and LaDesha Ard got hurt the day before the game and wasn't able to play. Nobody thought we had a chance. But Lisa played on that bad knee and not having LaDesha made things even tougher. And even though we lost (91-77), the fans were cheering for us because of our effort."

There are so many games that rush to Welliver's mind during her career. There's the 77-72 win over College of the Canyons in 2001 that sent the team to the Elite Eight, the 76-69 win over Sierra College prior to the classic game against San Jose, the 84-80 win over Orange Coast College that sent the team to the Elite Eight in 2000, even the team's 57-52 win over West Hills-Lemoore College in the finals of their tournament this season.

One of the key components in that win over Orange Coast, Monet Andrews, recalls playing for Welliver and it changing her life. The school's second leading scorer in history had always hoped of coaching alongside her after spending two years being coached by her.

"Karen is my favorite coach and became what I'd consider a mentor," said Andrews, who now spends her time coaching her son's basketball team. "Before her, I never thought I'd be able to coach. I always thought I was just a player. She helped me to put what I'd learned over the years as a player into teachings to give to other players. Karen always had plays designed for me, but they were such good plays that others on the team could execute them. A friend of mine played at Los Angeles Southwest College. We actually guarded each other during 1999-2000 season but I didn't know her until two years later. We've remained close over the years and her father was one of the LA Southwest coaches. He knows all things basketball and he said that every year Karen should be the conference's Coach of the Year."

Although Welliver is known more prominently for her coaching success on the court, she also takes great pride in her success with students in the classroom. She felt that the time she spent working on study plans, grading papers and the time interacting with students helped her remain balanced over the years. Welliver stated that some of the things her students share in her health classes have helped make all the sacrifices worthwhile.

"Nobody cares more about her players than Karen," said Dean Ackland (pictured left, with Welliver in their final game), who joined Welliver on the bench for a second stint this season. He spent 2000-03 as an assistant coach and the two combined for 78-24 record with two state tournament appearances. "She cares about every part of their life and it makes her different from a lot of coaches. Karen has had really good players over the years and they performed well for her and it's been one of the components to their future successes in life. I've had the opportunity to work with two great basketball coaches and they both cared very much about the progress of their players on and off the court."

"As her former coach, I have a special bond with Karen," added Prindle. "I value our friendship that has grown over the years. After all these years of coaching, I admire Karen for maintaining the qualities and values that she had in the beginning - integrity, maintaining high standards in her program and of her student athletes, and love of basketball. She is very competitive and always keeps the priority on her athletes and their progress in the classroom and on the court."

Added Johnson, "During my years at Cerritos, I learned to be a better player, a better teammate, and ultimately, a better coach. Throughout my career, I have come in contact with many different coaches and have even experienced the different styles. But I have never met a coach that has impacted so many different players' lives. I couldn't have asked for a better coach, mentor, and friend."

The timing for Welliver's retirement also coincides with the college hosting the CCCAA State Championships, which will take place March 13-15. The first season the men's and women's teams combined to hold their state championships together was at Cerritos in 1985. Welliver recalls running around trying to sell advertisements for the program and was focused on making sure the event made money.

"I suppose it all comes full circle for me with us hosting again this year," said Welliver. "This whole time at Cerritos has been the best that I could have every asked for. I got the opportunity to work with some great people, make lifelong friends and have an amazing support staff that made focusing on coaching much easier. I have nothing but great memories and I'm sure the program will be in great hands for whoever takes over."

 KAREN WELLIVER'S CERRITOS COLLEGE COACHING CAREER

#Denotes South Coast Conference Champion
$Denotes Southern California Regional Playoff Appearance