Troy University Athletics
Chanda Rigby Named Troy University Women’s Basketball Head Coach
4/11/2012 3:30:00 PM | Basketball (W)
“We are very excited about the addition of Chanda to our Troy Family,” Dennis said. “I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in this nationwide search. Chanda is an outstanding fit for Troy University. She is a proven championship winner and someone that will lead our program to another level in the Sun Belt Conference and nationally.”
Rigby just completed her seventh season at Pensacola State College where she led the Pirates to a combined 64-6 record over the last two seasons and two trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association Final Four; the Pirates were victorious in third-place games on both occasions.
“We had a lot of success in my last two years in Pensacola and Troy is a place where I want to transfer that success to,” Rigby said. “Troy is a prime place to make a statement in women's basketball.
“The administration has made the commitments to the program that are necessary for success, and I want the women's basketball program to properly reflect the great institution it represents.”
With over 20 years of head coaching experience, Rigby has been successful at every level of competition, posting a 414-149 record, at the high school, two-year college and four-year college levels.
She has won sixteen Coach of the Year awards at the conference, district, regional, and state levels, and has also won eight conference championships and four state championships, with some of her most astounding numbers coming at Pensacola State over the past seven seasons.
In 2010-11, she led the Pirates to an undefeated (32-0) regular season that included 20 consecutive weeks at No.1 in the national polls. The Pirates followed that up in 2011-12 with the first back-to-back state titles and Final Four appearances in school history.
While in Pensacola, Rigby coached three WBCA All-Americans as well as one McDonald's All-American and four NJCAA All-Americans. In the past five years, 100 percent of her players at PSC have graduated and moved on to play Division I basketball, including former Trojan DeAngela Sword.
“Chanda is a woman of high integrity and hard work,” Dennis said. “She has been a winner everywhere she has coached and has a great plan for the future of our program. We are looking forward to great things.”
Rigby joined the staff at Pensacola State College as head coach in 2005 after four seasons as the head coach at Holmes Community College. Rigby's teams posted a winning record all four years and were ranked No. 12 in the nation in her final season. Her dedication to academics also showed as the Bulldogs saw their GPA and graduation rates soar during her tenure.
“My overall goal at Troy is to have the women's basketball program be a proper reflection of the institution it represents,” Rigby said. “Troy is such a progressive place; it is Alabama's gateway to the world. It is innovative, progressive and successful and I want the women's basketball program to reflect that as well.”
Rigby's collegiate career began in 2000 at Tabor College, a four-year NAIA institution, where she transformed a last-place team into one of the top teams in the conference in just two seasons before moving on to Holmes Community College.
She began her head coaching career at the prep level in Mississippi in 1992 at Northwest Rankin High School before returning to her home state, Louisiana, to coach at Loranger High School from 1996-2000, where she won a pair of state championships and was twice named the Louisiana Coach of the Year.
Rigby led Loranger High School to six consecutive undefeated district championships and state titles in 1996 and 2000; Loranger also played for another championship during her tenure.
Rigby graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a bachelor's degree in English Education in 1990 and master's degree in Secondary Education in 1998. She is currently working on her doctorate degree in higher education leadership at Nova Southeastern University.
“I would like to thank the hiring committee and the administration for choosing me,” Rigby said. “I am honored to be selected out of such a great pool of candidates.”
She is married to Ed Rigby, a high school head football coach. The couple has two sons, Ramsey (14) and Randon (13).
The Chanda Rigby File:
Born –April 16, 1968 in Franklinton, La.
High School – Bowling Green High School (LA), 1986
College – Southeastern Louisiana (English Education), 1990;
Southeastern Louisiana (master's Secondary Education), 1998
College Athletics – Louisiana College women's basketball (1986-87)
Coaching Experience –
Ponchatoula High School (LA), Assistant Coach (1990-92)
Northwest Rankin High School (MS), Head Coach (1992-1996)
Loranger High School (LA), Head Coach (1996-2000)
Tabor College (KS), Head Coach (2000-01)
Holmes Community College (MS), Head Coach (2001-05)
Pensacola State College, Head Coach (2005-12)
Family – Ed Rigby (Husband), Ramsey Rigby (Son, 14), Randon Rigby (Son, 13)
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