After spending four years developing her game under 2012 Big Ten Coach of the Year Coquese Washington, Penn State’s Tori Waldner is looking to put her own skills and experience to the test to become the next great women’s basketball coach.

Waldner, a senior from Milton, Georgia, is among 58 student-athletes selected to participate in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) “So You Want to be a Coach” program at the Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Florida. The 6-foot-5 center is the first Lady Lion to participate in the program since Brianne O’Rourke in 2009.

Since becoming the team’s starting center at the beginning of 2013-14 season, Waldner averages 4.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and finished third on the squad in rebounding last season to help the Lady Lions capture their third-straight Big Ten regular season title. Waldner ranks eighth on Penn State’s career blocks list with 119 rejections, and is just the ninth player in school history to record 100 blocks.

The “So You Want to be a Coach” program is a three-day workshop held April 3-5 in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention in Tampa. Participants will learn about recruiting, the administrative side to coaching, how to get hired, skill development, the importance of knowing the rules, and how to balance work and life, per a release.

To be selected, each participant is judged based on her academics, contributions to women’s basketball on and off the court, professional résumé, and a written recommendation from her head coach.

Congratulations to Tori on the selection. We hope to see you roaming the sidelines in the near future. Just be careful what you say about Big Ten officials.

Photo: GoPSUSports