University of Detroit Mercy women’s basketball head coach AnnMarie Gilbert has announced the first piece of her coaching staff on Wednesday as LaTanya Collins was officially named an assistant coach for the Titans. Collins joins the staff with more than 12 years of collegiate coaching experience.
“I am pleased to add LaTanya Collins to our staff,” Gilbert said. “LaTanya is a rising star in the women’s game. She possesses head coaching experience and understands how to turn programs around quickly. She is a hard worker and a tireless recruiter. She will be responsible for developing the post players and will assist with the overall day-to-day operation of the program. LaTanya understands championship culture and will be a valuable addition to our staff.”
Collins has 69 head coaching victories across four seasons and has vast experience coaching at different levels, which includes stops at fellow Division I programs Coppin State, Marist, Radford and Virginia Tech, among others.
“I am super excited to join Coach Gilbert and the women’s basketball staff at the University of Detroit Mercy,” Collins said. “Coach Gilbert is a proven winner and has a standard of excellence. I am honored to align with her and fully believe in the vision. As a leader, she is family-oriented and is committed to the development of young women through sport. It is refreshing to work with someone with a championship mindset. I am thankful for the opportunity to join forces with everyone here at Detroit Mercy and look forward to winning a Horizon League Championship.”
Collins was most recently the head coach at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, recording a mark of 22-4 and taking over a roster that had no players and building a team that began the year on an eight-game winning streak and received votes nationally in the Top-25 NJCAA Poll by season’s end. Under Collins guidance, Harford led the NJCAA in points allowed per game (48.6), along with steals per game (16.9), while also finishing second in blocks per game (8.4).
Under the tutelage of Collins, Harford guard Kelvajha Foster earned NJCAA Division I All-American honors and she helped produce two All-Maryland JUCO Conference players in Foster and Tsahai Corbie.
Prior to that, Collins was the head coach at Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee for two seasons, winning 27 games total, which included an 11-game turnaround to 19 victories and a second-place finish in the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII regular-season standings during the 2018-19 campaign.
Under her guidance at Motlow State CC, Collins coached a NJCAA All-American and TCCAA Co-Most Valuable Player in Janna Lewis, two Second Team All-Region selections, four All-Conference honorees as well as a Rookie of the Year during her tenure at Motlow State. Lewis also finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in school history.
Collins has previously had four stops at the Division I level in various roles with Coppin State, Marist, Radford and Virginia Tech. She was an assistant coach at Coppin State in Baltimore, Maryland in 2016-17, helping guide a team that had just one returning starter to an 8-8 record, while also coaching the Rookie of the Year in the MEAC, Chance Graham.
Collins was an assistant coach at Radford during the 2009-10 season, coaching one All-Big South Conference selection. At Marist College in 2004-05, Collins assisted with a team that made a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the first in school history.
At Virginia Tech, Collins was the Assistant to the Head Coach and Director of Student-Athlete Development. During her stint with the program in 2014-15, the Hokies won two games in the ACC Tournament for the first time in school history and she helped tutor two ACC All-Academic Team selections, with three other players going on to play professionally.
Her second head coaching stint came at Saint Augustine’s College in 2007-08, where Collins led the fourth-biggest turnaround for a Division II program that year, guiding the team from six wins to an 18-10 record during that campaign. The 18 victories was the most total wins and conference wins since 1998 for the team. She coached three All-Rookie Team selections as well as the Rookie of the Year, Allison Sikes, during her lone season at Saint Augustine’s College.
Collins first head coaching job was at Southern Vermont College, where she spent two seasons at the helm of the program (2005-07). Collins also served as the Senior Women’s Administration and Assistant Athletic Director within the college and was an integral part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at the school.
She has also spent time as a head coach at the high school level — coaching at Atlee High School in Hanover, Virginia across three seasons (2010-13) as well as at Saint Gertrude High School in Richmond, Virginia during the 2013-14 school year. At Saint Gertrude, she led the team to their first state tournament appearance in 14 years, with the team ranking No. 7 in the state at year’s end. At Atlee, Collins helped lead the squad to their first regional tournament in five years.
Collins has an extensive grassroots background, coaching with the Nike Boo Williams Summer League EYBL program for six years and the Nike Carolina Flames EYBL program one year. During this time, Collins coached seven WNBA draft picks and five McDonald’s All-Americans.
Collins earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Virginia State University in 2000 and a Master’s degree in Exercise Science in 2015 from California University in Pennsylvania.
Stay tuned for more announcements regarding the Detroit Mercy women’s basketball coaching staff.
