DAYTONA BEACH -- Bethune-Cookman's new women's basketball coach is anxious to hit the court and start working with her new players. Hitting the road can wait.Vanessa Blair-Inge, who was the head coach for nine seasons at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland, takes over a B-CU team that has had little success on the court during the past four seasons but returns 13 players, including nine rising sophomores. The Wildcats signed one player, center Chelsea Gordon from Fort Myers Dunbar, for next season and expect to have just two more spots available for 2009-10.
"Our biggest class will be in 2011," said Inge, who was on campus Tuesday. But that doesn't mean it will take her that long to assemble her own team. "This is my team," she said. "This is the here and now. These players are here and ready to play for Bethune-Cookman. And my job is to serve the university. These are my players."
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Blair-Inge is the first and only person in league history to have been named both Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Garnering two NEC Player of the Year awards, NEC Player of the Decade (1985-1995) and NEC Coach of the Year (1998-99), Blair-Inge holds three of the highest honors given to a player or coach in the NEC. In the Spring 2003, Inge was honored for her dedication to Mount St. Mary's University and its athletic department by being inducted into the Mount's Sports Hall of Fame.
She is married to former Mount St. Mary's star basketball player and assistant women's coach Riley Inge.
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