Northeastern State University Director of Athletics John Sisemore announced Friday the hiring of Keith Ferguson as the department’s new head women’s basketball coach. Ferguson, the eighth coach in program history, comes to Tahlequah following seven seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Bethany College (Kansas).
“We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Ferguson and his family to Northeastern State and Tahlequah to lead our women’s basketball program,” said Sisemore. “Throughout the search process, we were focused on finding a coach that has high integrity, blue-collar work ethics, has strong family and community values. Coach Ferguson checks those boxes and has a proven record of success, a reputation of being a tireless recruiter, and is a rising star in the industry.”
Ferguson is the third-winningest coach in Bethany women’s basketball history, holding a mark of 121-87 for his alma mater. His teams produced three 20-win seasons, 16 All-Conference selections, two Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Defensive Players of the Year, one KCAC Freshman of the Year, and one All-American.
“I can’t thank Dr. Turner, John Sisemore, and the rest of the hiring committee enough for trusting me with this great opportunity here at NSU,” said Ferguson. “Leaving home is never easy, but the community in Tahlequah and at NSU is thriving with amazing people that share the same views and goals that we do. I can’t wait to get to work and go compete. Go RiverHawks!”
Ferguson turned over a Bethany program that won 18 games in the three years before his arrival into a perennial KCAC contender and was named its conference’s Coach of the Year in 2018. He guided the Swedes to six consecutive KCAC postseason berths, reaching the semifinals twice, and held a 97-64 mark against conference foes.
Before returning to Bethany, Ferguson spent four seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant women’s basketball coach splitting his time between Fresno State University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
At Fresno State, he helped the Bulldogs win 45 games in two seasons, including two second-round appearances in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. Ferguson had six players earn all-conference team awards and three individual awards over the two years, including a co-player of the year award. While he was with the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Ferguson recruited the top-ranked class in the Sunbelt Conference in 2014.
He was an assistant at Hutchinson Community College (Kan.) during the 2011-12 season when the team finished with a 36-1 record and was the national runner-up at the NJCAA Tournament. Five players from this team received Division I offers.
Ferguson also went 94-50 as a Junior College Head Coach for Brown Mackie College from 2007-09 and then Barton Community College from 2009-11. He led Brown Mackie to the program’s first 20-win season and coached Barton to a 21-11 overall record and a Jayhawk Conference runner-up finish.
Ferguson graduated from Bethany College with a bachelor’s in business management in 2011.
Coaching History
2007-09: Brown Mackie College, head women’s basketball coach
2009-11: Barton Community College, head women’s basketball coach
2011-12: Hutchinson Community College, assistant women’s basketball coach
2012-14: University of Louisiana at Monroe, assistant women’s basketball coach
2014-16: Fresno State University, assistant women’s basketball coach
2016-23: Bethany College, head women’s basketball coach
Four-Year Head Coaching Year-By-Year
Year, Team, Overall, Conference
2016-17: Bethany, 7-22, 5-17
2017-18: Bethany, 18-12, 14-8
2018-19: Bethany, 19-13, 14-10
2019-20: Bethany, 21-10, 17-7
2020-21: Bethany, 16-10, 14-9
2021-22: Bethany, 20-12, 15-9
2022-23: Bethany, 20-8, 18-4
https://goriverhawksgo.com/news/2023/4/7/keith-ferguson-named-womens-basketball-coach.aspx
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