DOVER, Delaware - A new era has begun for the Delaware State University women's basketball team as President Harry L. Williams introduced Tamika L. Louis, a former championship junior college head coach and Division I assistant coach, as the new head coach at a May 31, 2012 press conference.
Dr. Williams stated that he is "very happy" that Coach Louis has decided to become a member of the One Hornet Nation family.
"I expect that she will bring a high-level energy and excitement to our women's basketball program," Williams remarked.
Louis arrives at Delaware State with 14 years of coaching and recruiting experience on the NCAA Division I, Junior College and high school levels. Most recently, she served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2011-12 season at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Louis commented that, "as the Lady Hornets' head coach, I will be a servant-leader and hope that my energy, dedication and work ethic will be infectious to the young ladies on the team."
"We will establish a winning culture here with an expectation to excel in the classroom and on the court, resulting in MEAC championships," Louis stated. "Just as important, we will develop future leaders who, upon graduation, will make an immediate impact in our global society and positively represent DSU."
The decision to hire Coach Louis culminated a two-month search process that began in late March upon the retirement of former head coach Ed Davis. Serving on the search committee for the head coaching post were committee chair Dr. Gwendolyn Scott-Jones (chair of the Department of Psychology), Dr. Jan Blade (faculty athletics representative), Candy Young (interim senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator), Dr. Joe Amoako (professor of English and member of the Athletics Council), Dr. Josette McCollough (DSU Alum and former women's basketball student-athlete), Dr. Sonja McCoy (associate director of mentoring and advising) and current women's basketball senior Kianna D'Oliveira.
Eric Hart, Interim DSU Director of Athletics, praised the search committee for their hard work and expressed great hopes for the Lady Hornet basketball program under Louis.
"We are starting a new chapter in women's basketball and I am confident that Coach Louis will be able to build upon a strong basketball legacy here at Delaware State University," remarked Hart. "Coach Louis has built a reputation on the Division I landscape as being a fierce recruiter and has built top tier programs at Illinois and St. John's in addition to being on her way to building a strong class at George Washington University."
From 2009-11, Louis was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for St. John's University, where she was in charge of organizing all recruiting initiatives, game scouting, overseeing player academic progress and of-court mentoring. Additionally, she was responsible for the development of the Red Storm guards, including Second Team All-Big East and Freshman All-American Shennieka Smith.
Prior to her time at SJU, Louis served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Illinois from 2007-09 where she was instrumental in signing the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked players in the 2009 class in the country, according to ESPN Hoop Girl and Blue Star rankings, in All-Americans Destiny Williams and Karisma Penn.
From 2002-05, she was the head women's basketball coach at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., where she led her squad to a 58-33 overall record during her tenure. The 2004-05 squad boasted a 16-0 conference record and was 27-7 overall en route to a NJCAA Region XII championship and bid to the NJCAA Tournament. For her efforts during this stellar season, Louis was named the Michigan Community College Athletic Association and Region XII Coach of the Year.
Before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Louis had stints as an assistant and associate basketball coach at Central High School in Fresno, Calif., Rhodes High School in Cleveland, Ohio and Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio.
After playing her freshman year (1993-94) at West Virginia University, Louis transferred to Fresno State, where she was the starting point guard and captain from 1995-98. A native of Flint, Mich., she earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts Degrees in communications from Fresno State University.
COURTESY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
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