Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Names Royce Chadwick as Women's Basketball Coach
CORPUS
CHRISTI, Texas –
A 28-year veteran of the women’s college basketball coaching ranks, Royce
Chadwick, has been named the fourth head women’s basketball coach in Texas
A&M University-Corpus Christi history, it was announced today. Chadwick, who
spent the last 11 years at the helm of the Marshall University program, has 561
wins on his collegiate coaching resume.
“We were
looking for an experienced coach with Texas ties to lead our women’s basketball
program to new heights,” University President Dr. Flavius Killebrew said. “With
his passion and record of success, Royce Chadwick is the right person for the
job.”
Chadwick’s
appointment is pending approval of The Texas A&M University System Board of
Regents.
Interim
Director of Athletics Scott Lazenby stressed Chadwick’s community outreach
efforts and his experience in the state of Texas as major reasons for his
selection.
“We said
from the beginning that we needed someone who wasn’t just going to win, but who
was going to immerse themselves into the community and also have a strong base
to draw from here in Texas,” he said. “Royce has both of those qualities along
with being a consistent winner at every stop he’s made. He fits the profile we
were looking for in nearly every facet.”
Chadwick,
who previously served as head coach at both Sam Houston State and Stephen F.
Austin, expressed excitement for his return to the Lone Star State.
“I want to
thank President Killebrew, Dr. [Trent] Hill and Scott Lazenby for selecting me
to take over this program,” he said. “I’m thrilled to return to the state of
Texas, which has been and will always be home for me. Texas A&M–Corpus
Christi is a sleeping giant in the world of women’s college basketball and I
believe that the ceiling for this program is nearly limitless. Today, we start
down the road toward the top of the Southland Conference.
“Also,” he
added, “I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all the wonderful people at
Marshall for 11 wonderful years in Huntington. It was not an easy decision to
leave a place that holds so many memories for me.”
The
Floydada, Texas, native has a career record of 561-302 (.650) in stops at
Marshall, SFA, SHSU, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Howard Junior College. In 20
years at the Division I level, he holds a 365-237 (.606) record and seven NCAA
Tournament appearances.
Much of his
success came at Southland foe Stephen F. Austin, where he led the Ladyjacks for
seven seasons. In his tenure at SFA, the team went 173-44 (.797) and advanced
to the NCAA Tournament each season. The 1996 team made it all the way to the
Sweet Sixteen, and Chadwick was named the Southland Coach of the Year in 1997.
He went 4-7 in NCAA Tournament games, with five of those losses coming to
top-four seeds and all of them to teams seeded eighth or better. In his time in
Nacogdoches he won the conference tournament six times and compiled a sparkling
128-14 (.901) mark in league play. His teams won five Southland regular-season
championships.
Chadwick led
Marshall to seven winning seasons in his time there, the most of any coach in
program history. He won 161 games for the Thundering Herd, including a 19-win
season in 2004-05 that saw the team go 12-4 in Mid-American Conference play and
win the MAC East for the first time. From his third year at Marshall on, he won
at least 14 games every season with the exception of one, when his team was
decimated by injuries.
He also
played a major role in the upswing of attendance at Marshall games. He saw a
school-record 7,017 fans come through the turnstiles for a matchup with SEC foe
Kentucky in 2004, marking the fourth consecutive season that the Herd had the
highest-attended game in the conference. In his first season at Marshall, the
team saw a 251 percent increase in attendance.
His first
collegiate head coaching assignment was at Panhandle (Okla.) State, where he
led his Aggie teams to 19 and 20 wins, respectively, in his two years there. At
Sam Houston State, his next stop, he guided a school that had never posted a
winning season to an 18-9 mark during the 1987-88 campaign, just one year
removed from a 9-18 season.
In his five
seasons at Howard, Chadwick posted a record of 148-21, won four Western
Conference titles, advanced to the NJCAA Tournament twice and was named
National Coach of the Year in 1992. A multifaceted talent, Chadwick also served
as Howard's athletic director. In 1983, Chadwick broke into the coaching ranks
at Olton High School in Texas, where he led the Mustangs to a record of 21-5
and their first district championship in nine years.
Chadwick earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southwestern Oklahoma
State in 1980 and later earned a master's degree in business education from his
alma mater in 1982.
Chadwick is the proud father of two daughters, Kasi, 24, and Kelsi, 21.
COACH CHADWICK
BY THE NUMBERS
561
–
Career wins for Chadwick
7 – NCAA Tournament bids
.606
–
Division I winning percentage
.829
–
Career winning percentage in Southland Conference games
7,017
–
Fans in Marshall’s school-record crowd for 2004 game against Kentucky
20 – Average wins per
season in Chadwick’s career
28 – Years that Chadwick
has served as a head coach in women’s college basketball
4 – Career wins in NCAA
Tournament play
2005
–
Year of MAC East title for Marshall, the first in program history