Former Seawolf standout Sierra Afoa returns to the Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball coaching staff in 2020-21 for her third season under mentor Ryan McCarthy.
In her first two seasons, Afoa was instrumental in helping the Seawolves to an overall record of 61-5 and outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles. As a rookie coach in 2018-19, UAA earned an NCAA Sweet 16 berth and a No. 7 final ranking in the WBCA Div. II Top 25 coaches’ poll, while in 2019-20 she contributed to a Seawolf squad that swept the GNAC regular-season and tournament titles, finished No. 4 in both national polls, and posted with the best winning percentage (.939) in program history. Last season she also gained national recognition for her efforts, being named to the WBCA's prestigious Thirty Under 30 list of up-and-coming coaches.
A three-year letterwinner and four-year squad member, Afoa played in 102 games at power forward from 2014-17, helping the Seawolves to a combined 97-7 record – the best in NCAA Div. II over that span – and three straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles. She averaged 4.5 points and was the third-leading rebounder (4.6 rpg) for the UAA team that went 38-3 and reached the national title game in 2015-16, and she led the Seawolves with 4.7 boards per contest in her final season, starting 29 games for a 30-2 squad.
A two-time GNAC All-Academic Team selection, Afoa graduated with cum laude honors in 2017 with her bachelor’s degree in social work.
