Saint Augustine’s College selects Bullard as head women’s basketball coach

Saint Augustine’s College selects Bullard as head women’s basketball coach

August 20, 2010

RALEIGH, N.C. – Saint Augustine’s College president Dianne Boardley Suber has announced the hiring of Rachel Sloan Bullard as the new head women’s basketball coach. She takes the helm of a program that won the CIAA Western Division title and boasted the league’s highest team grade point average for women’s basketball last season.

“I am confident that we have selected the right candidate for the job,” Dr. Suber said. “Coach Bullard was a standout among a field of well qualified prospects. While she understands that winning is important to any successful athletic program, she is committed to the more paramount goal of preparing our student athletes to excel academically so that they can be champions in this highly competitive, highly technological world.”

Prior to her appointment with the Falcons, Bullard spent two years with the Charleston Southern University women’s basketball program where she served as the assistant coach in charge of recruiting. She was also responsible for overseeing community service, scouting, developing post players, and assisting with marketing and promotions.

Bullard also spent two years as an assistant at Butler University where she helped the Bulldogs post a 20-10 overall record in 2007-08. The Bulldogs finished second in the conference in 2006-07.

“We are extremely excited about the future of our women’s basketball program under the leadership of Coach Bullard,” athletic director George Williams said. “I believe she is the perfect fit to lead Saint Augustine’s College. Coach Bullard knows the landscape of the Carolinas for recruiting NCAA Division II student-athletes. She has all the intangibles it takes to be successful in this profession. I expect her to be one of the true up-and-coming coaches in the immediate future."

Before becoming a collegiate coach, Bullard was the head girls’ basketball coach at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, for one year. She also was the head coach at Laurens High School in Laurens, S.C., for two years.

Bullard was one of the greatest basketball players in school history at Presbyterian College, where she is the all-time leader in points (1,889) and rebounds (1,034). Bullard won South Atlantic Conference Athlete of the Year honors twice, one of only two student-athletes to accomplish the feat.  She was one of only four women’s basketball players in league history to record 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Her junior year, Bullard led the Blue Hose to a 28-2 record which set a school and conference record during the 1999-2000 season. She was a three-time All-Conference, All-Region and All-American selection, earning the distinction of becoming the program’s first Kodak All-American.

Due to her outstanding accomplishments, Bullard became the first women’s basketball player at Presbyterian College to have her jersey retired on Jan. 26, 2004. She was inducted into the South Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in June 2007.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Presbyterian College and a master of education degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. The Greenville, South Carolina native and her husband, Dr. Roland Bullard Jr., have a four-year old son, Roland III.