Eliza Pierre

Not long ago, Eliza Pierre was on the floor at Haas Pavilion, setting records for steals and games played and leading the Golden Bears to their first Final Four appearance in 2013. Now, after four years of coaching at UC Santa Barbara, Pierre is back in Berkeley as a part of head coach Charmin’s Smith’s coaching staff, rejoining the Bears in June 2021. In June 2024, Pierre was named to Silver Waves Media's Top 50 Most Impactful Women's Assistants list

At Cal, Pierre was a 4-time Pac-10/12 All-Defensive Team honoree from 2009-2013 and earned the team’s defensive most valuable player award after the ’09-’10 season. She played in seven NCAA Tournament games between 2012 and 2013 including 21 minutes in the Bears’ Final Four game against Louisville in New Orleans in 2013. Pierre still holds the fifth-most career steals in program history (243), the sixth-most in a single season (90) and her 140 games played are ranked fourth overall.

After a one-year sports management fellowship at the Pac-12 Conference office, Pierre joined the women’s basketball staff at Cal as the assistant director of basketball operations intern for the 2016-17 season. By the end of the year, she was promoted to interim assistant coach which ultimately launched her coaching career. Pierre spent the next four seasons as an assistant coach at UCSB where the Gauchos collected 41 wins, reached the Big West Tournament semifinals in 2020 (before the remainder of the tournament was canceled) and then the quarterfinals in 2021. She also guided nine players to all-conference honors.

A native of Pasadena, California, Pierre was a McDonald's All-American at John Muir High School where she was also named Second Team All-State, 2009 Player of the Year and 2009 Athlete of the Year in the San Gabriel Valley. She was also the No. 3-rated point guard by ESPN HoopGurlz her senior season and No. 22 overall. Pierre led John Muir High to four Pacific League championships and also ran two years of track.