Hendrix announced the hiring of Emily Cummins as women's basketball coach. Cummins, who won a Division III national championship as a player at Wilmington, comes to Hendrix after a three-year stint as an assistant at LaGrange.
Cummins, a Springfield, Ohio native, accepts her first head coaching position with excitement and eagerness. "I am thrilled for the opportunity to be the new head coach for the Hendrix College women's basketball team," Cummins said. "I am very excited to get started and continue building on the success that the team and Coach McCracken had last season. I could not ask for a better place than Hendrix College to accept my first role as a head coach and I look forward to continuing the tradition that has already begun."
Cummins assisted under last season's Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year Mark Isenhour and was a key component in turning a sub .500 level program in 2007-08 (11-15) into a conference contender in 2009-10 (18-8). The Panthers qualified for the GSAC Semifinals last year and finished second in the league with a 12-2 league mark.
Cummins spent the majority of her time on the court coaching the guards and has proven her value with back-to-back Panther guards earning GSAC Freshman of the Year awards. Throughout her coaching career, Cummins has guided a total of 17 all-conference players, including five of the Ohio Athletic Conference's OAC top 18 leading scorers.
Cummins is a 2004 Wilmington graduate. She had an outstanding career with the Lady Quakers, ending with a NCAA Division III national championship her senior year. Cummins senior season was preceded by two NCAA Tournament appearances that included trips to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Cummins also won three OAC championships over her four years and was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA D-III Sectional Tournament in 2004.
"Emily is a promising coach who is ready to begin her career as a head basketball coach, and we think she is a great fit to continue the success of our women's basketball program," says Danny Powell, Hendrix athletic director. "She has tremendous experience as both an assistant coach at solid NCAA Division III programs, and also as a player, where she was part of a national championship team. Emily understands the values and goals of our college and our athletic program, and we're excited for her to get to campus to begin work with our student-athletes."
Cummins earned her bachelor's in sports management from Wilmington before garnering her master's in business administration from Otterbein in 2007. She spent time as an instructor of health and physical education at Otterbein.