Chattanooga Times Free Press

UTC women’s Poppie receives coaching award

BY GENE HENLEY

recruiting just got a little bit easier for University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball coach Shawn Poppie.

After leading the program to the Southern Conference tournament championship and a 20-13 record this past season — a 13-win improvement over the 2021-22 team — Poppie has been selected as the Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The WBCA announced the honor Wednesday.

It’s the 17th season for the award, with past recipients including former Tennessee coach Holly Warlick.

Poppie was an assistant at Virginia Tech for six seasons before being hired to lead the Mocs a year ago at this time, and his first UTC team was competitive from the outset.

The Mocs had singledigit losses to nonconference opponents that — like UTC — eventually reached national postseason events: Belmont (Women’s National Invitation Tournament) and Alabama (NCAA tournament). The Mocs also

lost to Tennessee’s Lady Volunteers, who reached the NCAA’s Sweet 16 last weekend before losing to No. 1 seed Virginia Tech — which will take part in the Final Four this weekend after starting its tourney run with a win against UTC.

The Mocs also had three wins against league foe East Tennessee State, which finished third in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, and defeated Wofford early this month for

the program’s 19th SoCon tournament title and 16th appearance in the NCAA tourney. The Terriers lost in the first round of the WNIT.

The Dixon Award honors Maggie Dixon, who died of an undiagnosed heart condition shortly after leading Army to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA women’s tourney in 2006.

In a release announcing Poppie’s selection, WBCA executive director Danielle Donehew said: “Success in your first year as a head coach is generally a difficult feat. When a new head coach demonstrates a mastery of managing all aspects of a program, as well as producing success in competition, our coaching family pays respectful attention. Shawn led his team to a remarkable season. We celebrate his effort and effectiveness on the basketball court as a teacher and equally applaud the extensive role he plays in impacting the lives of his student-athletes.”

Although the Mocs enjoyed success on the court that resulted in wins and a conference championship, Poppie emphasized throughout the season that he was more focused on establishing what type of program he wanted for the long term. In Wednesday’s release, he expressed gratitude for the award and its association with Dixon, saying that although he never got the chance to meet her, he knew she “was a phenomenal basketball coach on the rise and an even better person.”

As for his recognition, he deferred credit to the team.

“This award is a testament to my girls and all of the hard work they put in,” Poppie said. “We focused and prided ourselves on building a winning culture by doing things the right way. Through all of the ups and downs that a season brings, my girls stayed the course with two feet in growing individually and collectively. I’ll forever be indebted to this years team in laying the foundation for years to come.”

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2023-03-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-30T07:00:00.0000000Z

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