Bio

Coach Rizea arrives at Chaffey College after spending the previous four years at IEAC conference foe College of the Desert (Palm Desert, CA).  Prior to her arrival in California, Rizea spent two years as a Graduate Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Peru State College (Peru, NE).  

The Canadian native came to Peru State from a fellow Heart of America Athletic Conference opponent – Graceland University (Lamoni, IA). Rizea graduated from Graceland in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education and Coaching.  She was a member of the Varsity Women’s Basketball team and Track & Field program at GU. She then completed her Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Wayne State College (Wayne, NE) while coaching at Peru.  

Rizea has a variety of basketball coaching experiences. Prior to coming to the Panther program, Rizea was Varsity Assistant Coach and Head Junior Varsity Coach at her alma mater Graceland. In addition to her experience at Graceland, Rizea was the Head Girls Basketball Coach at the International Children’s Games for the Windsor Essex Girls Basketball team in Windsor, Ontario, where the team went undefeated to capture the championship title. Also, she has served as a member of the basketball staff for the Ontario Junior Development Team, an assistant coach for Vincent Massey Secondary School, an assistant coach for the South Windsor Warriors travel team, and four other years of coaching experience with other Canadian programs.  

Rizea was recognized as a nominee for Windsor Essex Sports Person of the Year (WESPY) for women’s basketball in 2013-14. After graduation from Graceland, she was a member of the St. Clair College Women’s Basketball Team who were OCAA Provincial Bronze Medalists in 2014. Rizea was named as the St. Clair College Female Athlete of the Year in 2014. In addition, she was an OCAA First Team All Star and CCAA Academic All Canadian for consecutive seasons. Recently, Rizea became a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).  

In total, Rizea has coached 14 scholar-athletes including four Academic All-State in the CCCAA, and 10 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 1 NAIA Scholar Team, 6 NAIA Honorable Mentions, five All-Conference Honorable Mention, three 2ndTeam All-Conference, Heart of America Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, and one player who joined a Professional League. 

Rizea currently resides in Southern California with her husband Clayton and son Ellis (1). Her family spends a few weeks in the summer to serve as counselors and mentors at church leadership and sports camps in Iowa and California.