The Bulls gain three new staff members, as Becky Burke has finalized her staff less than two weeks after being hired as UB women’s basketball coach.
Tuesday saw Burke strengthen her team with some Southern hospitality, as Candyce Wheeler, Wyatt Foust and Asia Dozier join the ranks.
These additional two assistant coaches and director of basketball operations will look to give stability to the swathes of outgoing players (including Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley) and incoming recruits (like Re’Shawna Stone and Chella Watson).
Candyce Wheeler
Wheeler, who served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Burke at USC Upstate and played with Burke at Louisville in 2009, reunites with the 32-year-old UB.
Wheeler served as assistant coach at DuPont Manual and Western Kentucky, guiding her teams to a seventh Region Championship and a Sun Belt Conference title respectively.
Hot off her successes, the assistant coach served at Bellarmine University for four seasons — bringing the Knights to the NCAA Tournament playoffs straight off the bat in 2017.
Bellarmine made the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament in every year Wheeler was on the staff..
“Candyce brings firsthand experience that helps teach our players what it takes to perform at a high level,” Burke said in a UB press release.
Wyatt Foust
Foust most recently served as Director of Basketball Operations at Murray State — where the Racers advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2009 and just the fifth time in program history.
Beginning in 2012, Foust’s high school coaching career saw a 101-15 record and .877 winning percentage at high school level.
Foust championed Butler Traditional High School to six successive title game appearances in two seasons, and led Murray High School to consecutive KHSAA Sweet 16 appearances in 2018 and 2019.
“Wyatt’s work ethic is second to none… his energy and enthusiasm are contagious,” Burke said.
Asia Dozier
The two Kentucky-based coaches are joined by a third with Dozier.
Dozier’s 2016-17 start as a graduate assistant at Florida gave her a foothold in success, as she went on to Legion Collegiate and locked down a winning record in the program’s inaugural season.
Though the head coach came into her own at Cardinal Newman, leading the Cardinals to a 33-6 overall record and back-to-back SCISA Class 3A championships in two seasons.
“Asia comes to us with an incredibly impressive playing resume,” Burke said.
Sophie McNally is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at sophie.mcnally@ubspectrum.com
Sophie McNally is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is a history major studying abroad for a year from Newcastle University in the UK. In her spare time, she can be found blasting The 1975 or Taylor Swift and rowing on a random river at 5 a.m.
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
