Jody Adams was named the head women鈥檚 basketball coach at Wichita State, then-黑洞社区 director of athletic Jim Schaus announced in a press conference Wednesday, March 26.
Adams, who was a point-guard on the 1991 National Championship team at Tennessee, comes to 黑洞社区 from Murray State where she coached the Racers to the NCAA Tournament as a 14-seed in her first season as a head coach.鈥淛ody Adams is the right person at the right time to build the Shocker women鈥檚 basketball program,鈥 Schaus said. 鈥淪he is an excellent fit. She has played on a national championship team, coached at high major programs, has been a head coach and understands how to assemble a program. She has coached successfully in the Missouri Valley Conference, and also coached in the Kansas City area, so she is very familiar with our recruiting region. She is passionate about the game, and success has followed her wherever she has gone.
鈥淚n addition, she cares for the student-athlete, academics, her staff and doing things the right way. Jody will fit in well as a Shocker and our future looks bright under her leadership. I am also excited about her future staff and direction for Shocker women鈥檚 basketball.鈥
Her season at MSU also included an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship after tying for second in the regular season.
The Racers were ranked 19th nationally in scoring, third in free-throw percentage and 25th in three-point percentage, while MSU had two players ranked in the Top 36 in individual scoring.
Prior to taking the head coaching position at MSU, Adams served as the associate head coach at Southern Illinois for three seasons, helping the Salukis go from a 3-24 overall mark and 1-17 Missouri Valley Conference record in 2004-05, to a 21-11 record in 2006-07 and a MVC regular-season championship along with a berth in the Women鈥檚 NIT.
From 2001-04, Adams served as the associate head coach at Missouri-Kansas City and also served as an assistant coach at Minnesota, Wake Forest and Auburn.
She graduated from Tennessee in 1994 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in human performance sports studies, with an emphasis on physical education.
At SIU, she headed the recruiting program, developing a recruiting system for the staff and governing all student-athletes recruited by SIU with regard to eligibility, the NCAA Clearinghouse, paperwork for official visits and the National Letter-of-Intent. She oversaw the implementation of the recruiting budget and provided on-court instruction for the guards and post players.
While an associate head coach at Missouri-Kansas City, she was named the 2003 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year. She also served as the recruiting coordinator, overseeing the recruiting and equipment budget and creating and implementing a year-long strength and conditioning program.
As an assistant coach at Minnesota, she earned recognition as having a Top 5 Recruiting Class in the Nation, recruiting current WNBA player Lindsey Whalen.
During her time as a player, Adams had an illustrious four-year career at Tennessee as a point guard, playing in 107 games. She helped the Lady Vols to four Southeastern Conference titles and the 1991 NCAA Championship.
She led the team in free-throw percentage in 1989-90 and 1990-91 and in assists in 1991-92. She also ranked among the top 10 in career free-throw percentage, three-pointers made and three-pointers attempted at the conclusion of her playing career.
Adams was a 1992-93 Pre-Season All-American and a two-time All-SEC Academic Team honoree. She was named to the 1990-91 All-Mid-East Regional Team and the 1990 U.S. Junior National Team and South U.S. Festival Team.
She was a two-time recipient of the Unsung Heroine Award and earned the 1993 Lady Vol Torch Award for Scholastic Excellence and the 1993 Lady Vol Coach鈥檚 Award.