Christian Blanks Introduced as @UNCBearsWBB Assistant Coach

5/30/2018 9:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Jenny Huth continues to build her coaching staff with the introduction of Christian Blanks as an assistant coach on Wednesday

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Jenny Huth added another piece to her coaching staff puzzle on Wednesday, announcing the hiring of Christian Blanks as an assistant coach. Blanks, like Huth, come to UNC from UCLA where he was the video coordinator since 2015. He joins Kelly Packard who was announced as an assistant to Huth's staff on Tuesday.

"Christian is primed to make a great impact here in Greeley. His basketball knowledge and skill development abilities will be vital to our preparation and success. His experience at Maryland during their Final Four run, at UCLA this past season as they advanced to the Elite Eight, and as an advanced scout for two WNBA teams cannot be understated. Every program he has worked with has succeeded at a high level and we anticipate the same here at UNC."

Blanks is stepping into his first assistant coaching position but has a wide variety of service within the world of women's basketball. While being the video coordinator at UCLA, he also took on the responsibilities of being an advanced scout for the WNBA and player development specialist including providing workouts for Candace Parker of the LA Sparks.

While on staff at UCLA, Blanks oversaw all video operations including compiling scouting reports and organizing the scout team as the Bruins advanced to three straight Sweet 16s and the 2018 Elite 8 in his tenure.

Prior to arriving in Los Angeles, Blanks was a video coordinator intern for the University of Maryland's women's basketball team for the 2014-15 season. With the Terps, he assisted in all video operations at the Final Four and NCAA Tournament, along with working with the director of scouting on advanced scouting of opposing teams.

He started his career in basketball as a basketball operation intern for the Washington Wizards assisting the front office with daily basketball operations activities, helping gather and provide information about prospects in the 2014 NBA Draft and inputting scouting reports into the team's database.

Not only has Blanks helped the best in the basketball world, he has also competed against them as a practice player for three different WNBA franchises in the Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks from 2011-16.

Blanks graduated with his bachelor's degree in Sports Management from Hampton University and his master's in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown.

Christian and his wife Melanie live in Greeley.

To stay up to date on all things UNC women's basketball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsWBB.