Jake and Angie Nelp join basketball support staff

FAYETTEVILLE — Former Indiana Wesleyan men’s basketball assistant coach Jake Nelp has joined the University of Arkansas women’s basketball support staff as the Lady Razorbacks’ video coordinator, head coach Tom Collen announced this week. Angie Nelp, a former player for Collen during his Colorado State days, is also joining the Lady’Backs as a graduate assistant.

“I’m very excited to add a person with Jake’s coaching background to the staff to handle our video,” Collen said. “His years as a coach give him a unique perspective on what is important for our on-the-floor coaching staff. He will be a tremendous asset to us both in day-to-day work for our teams and breaking down video on opponents for scouting.”

Nelp spent the past two seasons as the assistant coach at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind. Last season, IWU went 30-5 overall to advance to the NAIA elite eight, and ranked as high as No. 3 in the country. Nelp assisted head coach Greg Tonagel in recruiting, and IWU had one of the nation’s top small college recruiting classes in 2006-07.

At Arkansas, Jake will focus on creating a dedicated video suite for the basketball staff.

Angie Nelp replaces former Lady’Back graduate assistant Al Singleton who completed her degree this past spring and is currently a member of the Southern Methodist women’s basketball staff.

“Angie brings professional and collegiate basketball experience to our staff,” Collen said. “We are very fortunate to have someone with her basketball background as our graduate assistant.

Angie was the head girls basketball coach at Yorktown High in Yorktown the past two seasons, retiring from a successful professional playing career both in the United States and overseas. Angie Nelp spent two seasons with the NWBL Colorado Chill and one year with 08 Stockholm in Sweden. She was a part of championship teams for both franchises as the Chill took the 2005 NWBL title and 08 Stockholm the 2003 Swedish national crown. She most recently represented the U.S. at the Jones Cup in the Far East this summer.

At Colorado State, she was a Kodak All-America honorable mention for Collen, and was the Mountain West defensive player of the year.

The addition of the Nelps rounds out the staff for the upcoming basketball season. The Lady Razorbacks begin pre-foreign tour practices with the start of the school year, preparing for a two-game swing through British Columbia over Labor Day weekend.

Tickets for the upcoming 2007-08 season are now on sale. Contact the Razorback Ticket Office at 877-LADYBACK or 57-LBACK, or go on-line at LADYBACKS.COM for more information or to purchase basketball season tickets.