Valerie Nainima enters her sixth year with the women's basketball program and third as an assistant coach. She had previously served as the team's video coordinator during her first three seasons.

"Players and people like Val only come around a few times during a coach's career," Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley said. "Val is arguably the best player I have ever coached. Her statistics and accomplishments speak for themselves. She has a great knowledge of the game as well as terrific people skills. Val will be an outstanding addition to our program both on and off the court."

As an assistant coach, Nainima's responsibilities include working with the guards, specifically the point guards, serving as the point person for the team's equipment, and overseeing the team's strength and conditioning. 

Coach Gaitley and Nainima's relationship dates back nearly 10 years when Gaitley recruited Nainima to attend Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nainima made history for the Blackbirds, as she became the first player in Northeast Conference history to earn player of the year and rookie of the year honors in the same season while leading the nation in scoring for all freshmen (17.8 points per game). During her sophomore season, Nainima averaged 20.4 points per game and was the fastest player in LIU history to reach 1,000 career points.

When Gaitley left to take over the women's basketball program at Monmouth University, Nainima transferred to the University of South Carolina. After sitting out a year as a transfer, Nainima made an immediate impact during her junior year with the Gamecocks and averaged 17.3 points per game, which ranked fifth in the Southeastern Conference and propelled to her to Second Team All-SEC accolades. She then suffered an injury late in the summer before her senior season, but Nainima fought to come back for the final three months of her final year. She ended her career as one of the program's most prolific three-point shooters, standing eighth with 115 career triples, 10th with 340 career attempts and fourth in percentage (.338). Nainima graduated from South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and Marketing.

Nainima hails from Rakiraki, Fiji, where she had worked as a development officer and high performance manager for Basketball Fiji. She coordinated and launched the first Hoops for Health Workshop program for Fiji and the South Pacific; planned and managed the Tuckers Fiji Secondary Schools Championships; trained and mentored the Fiji National Under 19 teams to the 2014 FIBA – USP U19 Oceania Championships; and helped organize the inaugural 2014 FIBA – USP U19 Oceania Championships. Nainima has competed with her country's senior team since she was 17 years old and has served as its captain for the past 11 years. 

Nainima went on to play professionally in Germany for New Basket Oberhausen and spent three seasons with the team. She also coached an U17 team in the organization as well.