ROHNERT PARK -- When the Sonoma State men's basketball team begins play this November, its sideline will feature the first female assistant coach in the 45-year history of the program.  Former Rincon Valley Christian HS and Santa Rosa JC standout -- and Sonoma State University alum -- Natalie Wisdom will join head coach Pat Fuscaldo and associate head coach Rich Shayewitz on the men's basketball sidelines in 2014-15. 

"Natalie is going to make us a better program," said Fuscaldo.  "She's going to make us more rounded, healthier, a more cohesive program by what she can bring to the program.  I want people who aren't afraid to work to become a coach to pay their dues, and she's paying her dues.  To find someone who wants to put the time in to become better at their craft is getting harder to do today and I think that's where Natalie will help to strengthen this program."

SSU Director of Athletics Bill Fusco added, "I believe this is a great opportunity for Natalie, and for Sonoma State University.  Her passion and commitment to the game of basketball is unwavering.  We are pleased to have her as part of our coaching staff."

Wisdom, 25, is a native of nearby Santa Rosa (Calif.) and a 2007 graduate of Rincon Valley Christian HS where she lettered in three sports -- basketball, soccer and cross country.  She enrolled at SRJC to play basketball, but redshirted the 2007-08 season due to injury.  She suited up in the Bear Cubs uniform for the next two seasons (2008-10), serving as a team captain and twice earning Academic All-Big 8 Conference honors while helping to lead SRJC to a State Tournament Final Four appearance in 2009-10. 

Upon earning her Associate Degree at Santa Rosa JC in 2010, Wisdom transferred to Sonoma State and graduated in December 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies.  During her time at -- and since graduating from -- SSU, she has been an assistant coach at SRJC under another SSU alum, Lacey Campbell, helping lead the Bear Cubs to four straight CCCAA Elite Eight appearances, including one State Championship (2010-11).

The announcement comes nearly a month after former WNBA star Becky Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs making her the first full-time, paid female assistant on an NBA coaching staff, shedding light on the topic of women coaching men, something rarely seen in collegiate or professional sports. 

"She has already met with the guys, I've listened to her talk and interact with them, and they've accepted her as an assistant coach," Fuscaldo added.  "I think (the guys) see the big picture because they are smart and they are understanding of what she can bring to the program.  I think they have all embraced it."

Wisdom may be the first female assistant coach on an SSU men's basketball team, but she is not the first female to take the sidelines during an NCAA men's basketball game.  Tennessee State athletic director Teresa Phillips made national news when she became the first woman to coach in a men's Division I college game in 2003.  Phillips was later named one of Sports Illustrated's "101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports" that year.

"I've wanted to (hire a woman as an assistant) for years," Fuscaldo explained, "but it had to be the right person, someone who could be thick-skinned enough to be able to work with men, to understand the game enough and to understand the behind-the-scenes things that goes on.  Natatie's all that.  She's thick-skinned, she's been around the game, she knows the game.  She's an extremely hard-worker, she's a very conscientious worker, she is the type of person that wants to be here all the time."

"I think (Becky Hammon) is going to be a great thing for the NBA, and I think (Natalie) will be a great thing for us."

Sonoma State looks to rebound in 2014-15 after missing the CCAA tournament last season for just the second time in the past six years.