Morehead State University Director of Athletics Brian Hutchinson announced Monday that Tom Hodges has been named as the Eagles' ninth women's basketball coach. He becomes the youngest head coach in Division I.
A 27-year-old native of Shelbyville, Tenn., Hodges has spent the past five years at Middle Tennessee State, including the last two as an on-court assistant to Rick Insell. He just completed his 10th season on a college staff. Prior to MTSU, Hodges also worked at Chattanooga and Morehead State's Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech.
He has been a part of seven conference championships and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament in just 10 years, and the three teams he has been a coach for have compiled a cumulative 218-86 record. Hodges has coached five conference players of the year (Janet Holt and Emily Christian, Tennessee Tech; Katasha Brown, Chattanooga; Chrissy Givens and Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee State) and three All-Americans Givens, Clark and Amber Holt, MTSU). He's also had three players drafted by the WNBA (Givens - 31st to the Phoenix Mercury; Holt - Ninth to Connecticut Sun; and Clark - 17th to San Antonio Silver Stars.
Hodges tutored Clark, helping her earn All-American accolades. He also mentored Brandi Brown to All-Sun Belt honors, which led to her selection as the recipient of the Sun Belt Postgraduate Scholarship Award. His primary charge on court was the development of the Blue Raider post players, including Clark and Brown.
A well-rounded coach who understands all aspects of a program's success, Hodges was also responsible for recruiting and scouting opponents and he oversaw video editing and breakdown. As a director of operations for MTSU he handled scheduling and travel arrangements for the Blue Raiders.
Hodges was a full-time assistant for the 2004-05 Chattanooga team that went 25-5, won the Southern Conference regular-season championship, and earned a berth to the Postseason WNIT.
He began his coaching career at OVC foe Tennessee Tech as an undergraduate assistant for coach legendary coach Bill Worrell. The Golden Eagles won two Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles during Hodges time, amassing a 78-42 record, including 26-4 in 2000-01 (which included the nation's longest winning streak of 19 games) and 22-8 in 2001-02.
At both Chattanooga and TTU, Hodges was responsible for all video editing and breakdown, film exchange, development of post players and coordination of all team travel.
In addition to his collegiate coaching, Hodges has coached at the AAU level for the Shelbyville Sports Shop. He coached in four national tournaments (2000, 2002-04) and won the 2004 U15 national title in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Hodges received his bachelor's degree in extended education with a concentration in health and history in 2004 from Tennessee Tech.
He was married in June of 2009, to the former Hillary Maxwell, who is also a basketball coach. Maxwell most recently was the head coach at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. where she won a state title.
Morehead State women's basketball is coming off the best two-year period in school history with 39 wins, including a school record 22-11 this past season. The Eagles return the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in Chynna Bozeman.