Wilberforce, OH - Beginning in the '24-'25 sports season, there will be a new name added to the Wilberforce University athletics coaching staff.

This year, the Lady Bulldogs basketball team will be led by Rachel Naughton, who comes to WU most recently as head basketball coach for the women's team at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) in Maryland.  

Naughton's experience includes lead and assistant coaching for high schools in Delaware, an AAU team in Delaware, at St. Paul's College in Virginia, and as director of basketball operations for the Georgia "Gwizzlies", a men's team.

Naughton describes herself as a strong advocate for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their academic and athletic programs.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for me to support Wilberforce and the university community," she said. "The energy will be expansive and WU Athletics Director John Hill is a great leader."

Hill, who took the lead at the Wilberforce athletics department last year, says Coach Naughton, who was selected from a pool of 30 applicants, "is an experienced coach with a high level background in recruiting."

Naughton is an alumna of St. Paul's College in Virginia where she received a bachelor of science degree in political science/pre-law. Later, she received a master of science degree in sports management from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She is a member of the NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.