REDDIES HRE NEW WBBALL COACH

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JOSHUA MATTHEWS NAMED LADY REDDIE BASKETBALL COACH
Aug. 21, 2006
by Troy Mitchell


Henderson State announced the hiring of Joshua Matthews as head coach of the Lady Reddie basketball team, effective immediately.

Coach Matthews replaces Jeff Caldwell who accepted the men's head coaching position at Northwest Mississippi Junior College late July.



"We are pleased and very excited to have Josh lead our women's basketball program," said athletic director Sam Goodwin. "He built a great program at Labette and he will be a great addition to our program."


Matthews built a very successful program at Labette Community College in Kansas. During his five years coaching the Lady Cardinals, Matthews built a 101-52 record including a 29-4 record last season, leading the team to the Jayhawk League East Division Title.



"This is a great opportunity for me to coach a highly successful program," said Matthews. "I want to thank Sam Goodwin for giving me this opportunity. I am very excited to be here and can't wait to get started."



The 2006 Cardinals set numerous records and the 29 wins was a school record in itself. Matthews was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Year and he is the winningest Coach in Labette Community College Women's Basketball History.





Henderson State, coming off its second NCAA Division II Elite 8 appearance in three years, has had 20-or more wins each of the last four seasons, advanced to four straight NCAA regionals, and won the GSC West Division title last season.



Coach Matthews inherits a team that returns four starters and 10 letter winners that had a 29-4 record and won the South Region Championship.

"Henderson State has a great tradition and I want to build on that tradition," said Matthews. "There is a lot of excitement here regarding Lady Reddie Basketball and I look forward to the challenges ahead."

Matthews took over a program at Labette that had always been near the bottom of the Jayhawk Conference. Prior to his arrival at Labette the team that was 5-25 overall record with a 1-17 conference record. During his first season, the Lady Cardinals won 12 games and finished 4th in the Jayhawk Eastern Division with an 8-10 record. The first season turnaround happened with only seven players on the roster.

During the next four years his teams have compiled an impressive 52-8 home record. The Lady Cardinals had a historic season in 2005 and rewrote almost every school record along the way. The Lady Cardinals recorded 26 wins and a semi-final appearance in the Region 6 tournament. This marked the first time in school history a Labette basketball team advanced in the Region 6 tournament since joining the Jayhawk Conference in 1993.

Matthews' coaching career began at Western Kentucky University where he coached under Steve Small, the fastest coach to 60 wins in NCAA DI history.

During Coach Matthews' time at WKU, the Lady Hilltoppers were ranked as high as 9th in the country. They shared the regular season Sun Belt Conference Championship during the 1997 season, appeared in two NCAA tournaments, the Final Four of the Pre-Season WNIT, and won the Cancun Shootout.

Matthews worked with four players that went on to play in the WNBA including Danielle McCulley, Leslie Johnson, Shea Lunsford, and All-American ShaRae Mansfield.

During Coach Matthews' two seasons at Western Kentucky the team was a combined for a 47-16 record.

Matthews' next coaching stint was at Missouri-Rolla as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator. The program had struggled the previous five seasons, failing to advance to the MIAA tournament.

In his first season at Rolla, the Miners went to the MIAA post season tournament and won more conference games then in the previous five seasons combined.

Matthews is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.