Averett University has named Desireé Driver as its women’s basketball head coach.
Driver is no stranger to Averett and the USA South Conference. For the past nine years, she has served as the women’s basketball assistant coach at fellow USA South member N.C. Wesleyan College. In 2021, she helped guide the Bishops to the USA South East Division title following a 12-0 record in conference and a 15-1 mark overall, including a win over Division I UNC Greensboro.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Driver to the Averett family,” said Meg Stevens, Vice President, Director of Athletics and Operations. “She has gained valuable experience as a longtime assistant coach and helped build her alma mater into a championship-contending program, and she is poised to take this next step as the head coach of our women’s basketball program.
Driver takes over an Averett women’s basketball program that has produced four 18-win seasons over the last five years and won one USA South Conference East Division regular season crown. The Cougars will compete for one more season in the USA South before Averett moves to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for the 2022-23 academic year.
“I would like to thank Meg Stevens, Averett President Dr. Tiffany Franks and the search committee for this amazing opportunity,” Driver said. “I am extremely humbled and excited to be joining the Averett community. The support and positivity I felt throughout this process has been extraordinary. Every person I spoke with had a genuine love for Averett and what the university represents.”
While at N.C. Wesleyan, Driver also worked as the director of intramural sports and recreation. Before returning to her alma mater, Driver spent one year as the assistant varsity and junior varsity girls’ basketball coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School in Palm Coast, Florida. Driver has additional coaching experience working with various camps and clinics.
A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Driver was a four-year starter for the N.C. Wesleyan women’s basketball program from 2007-11. A two-time team captain, Driver earned USA South Academic All-Conference honors all four years and earned the Scholar Athlete Award three times.
“With experience competing against Averett both as a student-athlete and as a coach, Coach Driver’s familiarity with Averett is an asset,” Franks said. “We are excited to have her in the Averett family.”
Driver earned her Bachelor of Science in exercise science in 2001 from N.C. Wesleyan, and she completed her master’s degree in parks, recreation, tourism and sports management from North Carolina State University in 2016.
Story Courtesy: Drew Wilson/Director of Athletics Communications
