Former Zillah basketball star Joel Yellow Owl was named the Leopards girls basketball coach Friday morning.

Yellow Owl takes over the program after the passing of longtime coach and Zillah legend Brandie Valadez, who lost her long battle with cancer this past summer.

The Leopards finished fourth at the state tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Yellow Owl starred for the Leopards and graduated in 2011, and went on to play at Yakima Valley College and Oregon Tech.

He has been the Toppenish boys coach the past two seasons, after coaching at Oregon Tech and White 

Swan.