Monica Diaz is coming home.
The 1986 Redwood High School grad is returning to her alma mater to lead the girls’ basketball program as its new head coach.
Diaz led Tulare Union to a historical run during the 2025-26 season, directing the Tribe to the Central Section Division IV championship game and a regional semifinal run in the CIF State playoffs.
That success catapulted Diaz to Redwood, where she will take over a 20-win program that advanced to the Central Section Division I quarterfinals this past season and the CIF State Division III postseason.
“It feels amazing,” Diaz said. “I feel like I’m going home. I’m excited because I am from Redwood. I went to Redwood. I’m a graduate from there. It just feels like I’m going home. It’s very exciting.”
Diaz, whose maiden name is Acosta, is no stranger to the Redwood sports tradition.
A former Rangers’ three-sport star, she earned 11 varsity letters, playing basketball and softball for four years and starring on the volleyball court for another three seasons.
She continued to play all three sports at College of the Sequoias before finishing her degree at Fresno State.
“Being a student at Redwood High School, it was amazing,” Diaz said.
Now, Diaz will get to teach basketball to students who walk the Redwood halls and learn in the same classrooms just like her.
Diaz has experience coaching with the Rangers.
She was a varsity assistant for three years under former girls’ basketball head coach Jason Black.
In eight seasons, from 2011-2019, Black led the girls program to one of its most successful decade runs, directing the Rangers to a combined 160-59 record, including a pair of co-West Yosemite League championships in 2015 and 2016.
That led Diaz to land her first head coaching job with Tulare Union in 2015, where she introduced some of the core philosophies and beliefs that made Black’s teams successful.
“I learned a lot from him,” Diaz said. “Some of the drills that we did at Redwood, I still do. Not all of them, but I would say 40 to 50% of them. I’ve added some things. I’ve incorporated myself into it by being a student of the game, going to camps and listening to college coaches, learning new things, but I’ve implemented other stuff that we did together.”
It didn’t stop there.
When Diaz’s teams were struggling, and she needed advice, she went to Black, who was more than willing to help out his former colleague.
“Jay Black has an incredible basketball I.Q.,” Diaz said. “I would call him, and he would help me get my team better. Anything that I asked, he had an answer for.”
That’s something that Diaz wants to continue with her own coaching staff at Redwood.
“ I think it’s amazing because that’s how it should be,” Diaz said. “If my JV and freshman coaches need advice, and they come to me asking what they should work on, I’m going to tell them and help them. I want them to run the same thing varsity is running, and I can only do that by communicating with them. Being able to communicate with my staff and help us all get better, that’s an amazing thing.”
Diaz’s final season with Tulare Union was one of Tulare County’s finest runs.
The Tribe went 25-9 this past winter, enjoying their best season in school history.
Tulare Union advanced to the 2026 Central Section Division IV championship game and came within two points of reaching the CIF State Division IV regional final.
“That was just so amazing,” Diaz said. “These kids didn’t want to lose. We had kids who literally watched hours and hours of film. They were more students of the game than fans of the game. Sometimes, players will watch themselves play and be a fan and not a student, but not them. They all got along so well.”
Diaz will bring an aggressive style of play to Redwood.
The Rangers, who are coming off their first 20-win season in seven years, are returning one of Tulare County’s top all-around players in junior Jordan Powell.
During Powell’s breakout season, she averaged nearly a double-double with 11.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
“We’re going to run,” Diaz said. “We’re going to pressure. My job is to teach them the game of basketball and to have a better basketball I.Q. I like the read-and-react offense. On defense, I like man. I love man-to-man, and I like pressuring the ball in a press.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Monica Diaz comes home to coach Redwood girls basketball
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
