HIGH POINT, N.C.—High Point University Athletics Director Dan Hauser announced Friday (May 31) that Chelsea Banbury has been hired as the next head women’s basketball coach.
Banbury joins the Panthers after serving 11 years on the coaching staff at Florida Gulf Coast, including the past five as the Eagles’ associate head coach. Banbury becomes the fifth Division I head coach and 10th overall head coach for the HPU women’s basketball program.
An introductory press conference with Banbury will be held on Tuesday (June 4) at 2 p.m. inside the Steele Sports Center’s Holbrook Room. Panther Club members are invited to attend, please RSVP to Alex Phillips at 336-841-4556 or aphilli3@highpoint.edu.
“To secure Chelsea Banbury, one of the most successful women’s basketball assistant coaches in the country, is a monumental day for High Point University,” Hauser said. “What Chelsea has been a part of building at FGCU is beyond amazing sustained championship success. Equal to the success is the exciting style of play that has been the cornerstone of her coaching philosophy and I know HPU fans are going to love coming to watch our games. We welcome Chelsea and her family to High Point University.”
During Banbury’s 11-year coaching career at FGCU, the Eagles produced a 306-72 overall record with a 173-13 conference record. The Eagles played in the NCAA Tournament or WNIT in all 11 seasons and captured nine regular season conference titles and six conference tournament crowns.
FGCU advanced twice with Banbury on the coaching staff to the NCAA Second Round in 2015 and 2018 and was the WNIT runner-up in 2016. The Eagles finished in the national rankings at No. 21 in 2014-15 and No. 25 in 2017-18. The Eagles were in the top five in 3-point field goals made in each of the last three seasons, including No. 3 in 2016-17, No. 1 in 2017-18 and No. 4 in 2018-19. In addition, Banbury-coached Eagle squads picked up wins over national-ranked opponents, including No. 15 Missouri, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 DePaul.
Banbury played women’s basketball and earned two degrees at FGCU – a bachelor’s in finance in 2007 and a master’s in business administration in 2010. In 2008, she was the female recipient of the Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award, which went to the student-athlete with the highest GPA.