| Robin Potera-Haskins returns for a third tour of duty in Division III. |
Robin Potera-Haskins, who spent one season at Louisiana College in 2006-07 and was coach at Austin College in the 1990s, has returned to Division III as head women's basketball coach at Linfield.
Most recently, she spent three years at Palm Beach Atlantic, an NAIA school transitioning to Division II, during which time the team went 20-62. Her contract was not renewed, according to the Palm Beach Atlantic athletic department.
Potera-Haskins' season at Louisiana College finished with an 8-16 mark, a year in which six players walked out on the program in midseason. After the season, Potera-Haskins left for Palm Beach Atlantic.
Before coming to Louisiana College, Potera-Haskins had been head coach at Division I Montana State. She filed a lawsuit against the school that is currently being heard in court in Butte, Mont., alleging she was fired because of sexual discrimination. The school counters that she was fired because of player turnover.
Potera-Haskins had filed a grievance with the Montana Human Rights Bureau but investigators did not find enough evidence to support her claims. More coverage is available from the Billings Gazette.
Potera-Haskins becomes the 11th coach in program history, succeeding interim coach Casey Kushiyama, who directed the team for one season after longtime coach Robyn Stewart departed in August 2009. Potera-Haskins inherits a program that has achieved only two winning seasons over the last 10 years. The program hit rock bottom with a 3-22 record in 2008-09, but improved to 6-19, 4-12 in the Northwest Conference this past season. All but two graduating seniors are expected to return for the 2010-11 season, including two players who earned all-Northwest Conference honors this past season.
She amassed 85 wins in five years at Austin, including three 20-win seasons and consecutive American Southwest Conference titles from 1996-98. The Lady Kangaroos reached the Sweet 16 of the 1997 NAIA and 1998 NCAA Division III tournaments.
Though well-traveled, Potera-Haskins said she sees Linfield as a destination, rather than another stepping stone.
"At this stage of my career, I’m not interested in climbing the corporate ladder any more," she said. "I'm interested in being in a place that puts a value on academics as well as athletics. I really believe that Linfield is going to be a good fit."