Jen Gillom - Head Coach
The 2009 season will be Gillom's second behind the bench with the Lynx
Gillom, who was one of the first players signed by the WNBA, played seven seasons in the league, including six with the Phoenix Mercury. Widely regarded as one of the best post players in the history of women’s basketball, she led the Mercury to three playoff berths (1997, 1998, 2000), where they advanced to the 1998 WNBA Finals, losing to the Houston Comets. After playing her final season with the Los Angeles Sparks, Gillom retired from the WNBA in 2003 with career averages of 13.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Her best season in the WNBA came with the Mercury in 1998, where she finished with career-high averages of 20.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Following her retirement from the WNBA, Gillom began her coaching career with the girls basketball team at Xavier College Preparatory, a private high school in Phoenix. She is currently in her fourth season with the Gators, where, entering 2008-09, she has compiled an 91-25 record (.784 winning percentage).
The WNBA’s 2002 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award recipient, Gillom was selected to the 1999 All-Star team and was also named to the 1997 All-WNBA first team and 1998 All-WNBA second team. She was named the 1985 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year. She collected a total of six gold medals, including the gold at the 1988 Olympics, and one silver medal as a member of USA Basketball. Gillom played for former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor at Ole Miss, where she was the 1986 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Female Athlete of the Year. A 1986 Kodak All-American, Gillom earned 1986 NCAA Midwest Regional MVP and 1985 NCAA All-Mideast Regional honors and was a four-time All-SEC first team selection. She led the Lady Rebels in scoring her final three seasons and finished her college career, behind her sister Peggie, as Ole Miss’ all-time second leading scorer (2,186 points). During her four-year career, Gillom helped her teams to a 103-23 record with four NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Sweet Sixteens (1983, 1984), two trips to the Elite Eight (1985, 1986), and three SEC West titles.
Gillom was named one of Arizona’s top athletes of the 20th century (No. 74). She and her sister Peggie have a sports complex named after them at the University of Mississippi. The Gillom Sports Center is home to women’s athletics at Ole Miss.
Gillom also enjoyed a lengthy professional career overseas prior to joining the WNBA, playing for teams in Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey. Spending most of her time in Italy, Gillom played in Ansona, Messina, Milan and Taranto and was selected to several Italian League All-Star teams
Jim Petersen - Assistant Coach
After spending the past 11 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx broadcast staffs, 2009 will be Petersen’s first season behind the bench as assistant coach.
With the Lynx, Petersen is responsible for the team's scouting efforts, talent evaluation, and player development with a focus on the post players.
Petersen spent his eight-year NBA career (1984-92) with the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. Petersen finished with career averages of 6.9 ppg and 4.8 rpg in 491 games, 208 starts.
A native of Minneapolis, Petersen won the Minnesota Mr. Basketball award as a high school senior in 1980. Prior to his NBA playing and broadcasting careers, Petersen played four seasons for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, winning the Big Ten Championship in 1982.
Chuck Barta - Head Athletic Trainer
Chuck Barta will return for his third season as Head Athletic Trainer for the Minnesota Lynx. Barta brings more than two decades of experience as an athletic trainer to the Lynx staff, including 18 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
After earning his athletic training degree from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in 1988, Barta worked two years as the Institute for Athletic Medicine’s athletic trainer in Eden Prairie, Minn. He volunteered as the Minnesota Junior Olympics’ athletic trainer and was interim athletic trainer for the University of Minnesota football in the spring of 1989.
Four seasons as a student athletic trainer during Vikings training camps prepared Barta to become the team’s fulltime assistant athletic trainer in 1988. In 1996 Barta was honored as the Vikings were named the NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year. In 2004 Barta was instrumental in developing the Safety Committee for the Vikings and worked to make the organization OSHA compliant. Barta was also a member of the NFL’s cardiovascular health subcommittee. In 18 NFL seasons, including seven as the team’s Head Athletic Trainer, Barta revolutionized the care and treatment of one of the NFL’s most successful franchises.
Barta worked with the Vikings until January 2006 when a coaching change prompted a change in training staffs. Since that time he worked with the USA Gymnastics medical team, as a Triage Coordinator at the Fairview Sports & Orthopedic clinic in Burnsville, Minn and provided athletic training coverage to local high schools through the Institute for Athletic Medicine. Barta also consults for HQ, Inc., makers of the Cortemp core body temperature monitoring system.
A native of Columbia Heights, Minn, Barta is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and Minnesota Athletic Trainers Association. He was vice president of the MATA from 1990-92 and served on the MATA Golf Tournament committee from 1993-02. He enjoys traveling, boating and fishing with his family as well as coaching his son and daughter’s youth sports teams. Barta, his wife Chris, son Brandon and daughter Mackenzie reside in Maple Grove.
