Elizabeth City State University announced the hiring of Laquanda Dawkins as the new head coach of the women’s basketball program.
“I am elated to be here at ECSU and look forward to leading the women’s basketball program. ECSU aspires to be the kind of place you prefer to be; a rich academic legacy that produces scholar students to make a difference in our society. It’s an honor to be working with great people. I would like to thank Chancellor Stacey Franklin Jones, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Vann Newkirk and Athletics Director, Derrick Johnson for having confidence in me to lead and build a legacy within the women’s basketball program”
“Coach Dawkins is a gifted coach whose track record of success is a testament to her energy and commitment to student-athletes”, says ECSU Athletic Director Derrick Johnson. “I am sure that her presence and leadership will create momentum and a new energy in ECSU women’s basketball.” Coach Dawkins earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education, exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1999 and later received a Master of Science in physical education at Florida International University in 2006.
Dawkins played as a member of the Tar Heels from 1995-99. The Tar Heels won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships during Dawkins’ tenure. She was also named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and received the Coach’s Award for her efforts during the 1998-99 season.
Dawkins comes to ECSU after a one year stint as an assistant coach at Tennessee Tech University.
Before the year at TTU, she was the head women’s basketball coach at Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU), a NAIA Division I University where she also served as the department’s Champions of Character liaison. SPSU, a member of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) was undefeated (15-0) at home during the 2013-14 season and posted an impressive 26-1 on their home court in her final two years as the head coach. SPSU ranked Number 29 nationally in the 2014 NAIA Division I coaches’ poll and made their four trips in the last five years to the NAIA Division I national tournament Dawkins guided Southern Poly to three NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship appearances in her four seasons and compiled a 83-43 overall record.
During her tenure at SPSU, Dawkins coached three NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball All-Americans, an All-America Honorable Mention, several SSAC Player of the week honorees, a SSAC Defensive Player of the Year, multiple All-SSAC conference team members and four SSAC Champions of Character team honorees.
From 2006-2010, Coach Dawkins was the recruiting coordinator at Winthrop University. Her hard work as a recruiter and coach paid dividends for the Eagles with one of their best seasons in school history, an appearance in the 2009 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
In 2007-08, Winthrop had its best start in school history as an NCAA Division I program and established a school record for wins (20) in a season at any level. Also when Dawkins was with the Eagles, they finished above .500 in conference play for the first time and appeared in three straight semifinal games of the conference tournament.
For three seasons (2003-2006), she was the recruiting coordinator at Florida International University. In her three seasons there, Florida International compiled 48 wins and the 2005-06 team, behind the firepower of first-team all-conference selection Lasma Jekabsone, advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and made a fifth appearance in the WNIT.
Fresh off her playing career and graduation from Chapel Hill, Dawkins assisted the coaching staffs at Gardner-Webb at the University of Iowa. The Hawkeyes, with Dawkins on staff, Big Ten Conference Tournament title in 2001.
Dawkins is also a 2008 graduate of the NCAA Black Coaches & Administrators Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) Program and is an active member of the Black Coaches Association and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Originally from of Shelby, N.C., Dawkins, who broke David Thompson’s 20-year old scoring record to become Crest Senior High School’s all-time leading scorer, had her high school jersey (#23) retired.
http://www.ecsuvikings.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/082015aab.html
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