An 18-year coaching veteran in both the professional and collegiate ranks, Shelley Patterson joins the Storm coaching staff for the 2007 season.

A native of San Jose, Calif., Patterson served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Sting in 2006 under head coach Muggsy Bogues. Patterson was also an assistant for the Los Angeles Sparks during the 2005 season.

Patterson began her career in Houston where she served as an operations assistant and won a WNBA Championship with the Comets during the 1999 WNBA season. She then spent four years working as an assistant coach with the Indiana Fever before joining the coaching staff of the Phoenix Mercury in 2004.

In addition to her work in the WNBA, Patterson served as head coach for the National Women’s Basketball League’s Chicago Blaze in 2005 and worked as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Rage of the ABL during the 1998-99 season.

She began her coaching career in 1989 as a recruiting coordinator at Indiana State University and has held positions at Ohio University, the University of Arizona, Wake Forest and Dayton.

As a player, Patterson spent her college career at Washington State University where she still ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in assists and steals.