High Point University Athletics Director Dan Hauser introduced Chelsea Banbury as the new head coach of the women’s basketball team.
Banbury joins the Panthers after serving 11 years on the coaching staff at Florida Gulf Coast, including the past five as the Eagles’ associate head coach. Banbury becomes the fifth Division I head coach and 10th overall head coach for the HPU women’s basketball program.
“High Point University women’s basketball is poised for tremendous success in the future,” High Point Athletics Director Dan Hauser said. “In looking for the next women’s basketball head coach, we wanted to identify a leader that could elevate our HPU program to national success. I’m happy to announce today that we found a coach with this track record in Chelsea Banbury.”
During Banbury’s 11-year coaching career at FGCU, the Eagles produced a 306-72 overall record with a 173-13 conference record. The Eagles played in the NCAA Tournament or WNIT in all 11 seasons and captured nine regular season conference titles and six conference tournament crowns.
“I’m excited to be at High Point,” Banbury said. “I’m excited for this opportunity. There’s not many opportunities where you get to take over a successful program so I’m excited to do that and build upon what’s already been done.”
FGCU advanced twice with Banbury on the coaching staff to the NCAA Second Round in 2015 and 2018 and was the WNIT runner-up in 2016. The Eagles finished in the national rankings at No. 21 in 2014-15 and No. 25 in 2017-18. The Eagles were in the top five in 3-point field goals made in each of the last three seasons, including No. 3 in 2016-17, No. 1 in 2017-18 and No. 4 in 2018-19. In addition, Banbury-coached Eagle squads picked up wins over national-ranked opponents, including No. 15 Missouri, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 DePaul.
Banbury played women’s basketball and earned two degrees at FGCU – a bachelor’s in finance in 2007 and a master’s in business administration in 2010. In 2008, she was the female recipient of the Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award, which went to the student-athlete with the highest GPA.
The Fort Collins, Colo., native played basketball at Poudre High School where she was named First Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-Colorado. Banbury will be joined in High Point by her husband, Greg, and son, Jackson, who turns one on Saturday.
Photo Courtesy HPU Athletics
https://highpointpanthers.com/news/2019/6/4/hpu-introduces-banbury-as-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
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