Greensboro and Guilford County have lost a Great Coach, a Great Leader and a Great Friend:Greensboro College Women’s Basketball Coach Randy Tuggle(Northwest Guilford HS) Passes Away at 62 after Battle with Cancer

Coach Randy Tuggle Passes Away At 62 After Battle With Cancer
(He is a former Northwest Guilford Vikings’ High School basketball player and baseball player, and he became the winningest coach in Greensboro College Women’s Basketball program history…

He worked in the banking and finance industry for many years, before he got into coaching basketball, but once he became a basketball coach, Randy Tuggle had found his groove and his passion for life…He loved to win, going all the way back to his days as a student-athlete, at Northwest Guilford High School…He used to battle for coach Sandy Gann in boys basketball and in baseball, at NWG…

Then he got the opportunity to join his cousin Jason Tuggle at Greensboro College, as a basketball coach for the women’s team, and as they say in the world of sports, “the rest is history”…

The Tuggles were a great team and after Jason left for Morehead High School, where he is now the principal, Randy Tuggle took over the reins of the Greensboro College Women’s Basketball team and he led them to the Championship Level…

Randy Tuggle’s Greensboro College Women’s Basketball teams were not only good, they were GREAT!!!!! Randy was like a brother to all of the coaches in the Greensboro College athletics department, where he eventually became the Assistant AD, and to his girls on that Pride Women’s Basketball team, Randy Tuggle was like a dad/father)…

Let’s say a prayer for the family of Randy Tuggle this evening, and as he has left us today, his memory will live on forever…

RIP Randy Tuggle:You did an outstanding job at GC and at NWG, and your legacy will live on forever too….
(Randy Tuggle, gone at age 62, and Gone Way Too Soon.)

from Wes Gullett, Greensboro College Sports Information Director
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro College community is mourning the loss of Head Women’s Basketball Coach Randy Tuggle, who passed away Thursday following a courageous two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Randy was a longtime friend and colleague, who inspired not only the young women he coached, but everyone in the Greensboro College community,” said Pride Athletic Director Kim Strable.

With 198 victories, Tuggle became the winningest coach in program history. He led the Pride to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2011 and was named USA South and D3Hoops.com Coach of the Year. During his tenure, Tuggle helped mold Greensboro College’s women’s basketball team into a USA South Athletic Conference powerhouse where he helped the Pride to seven USA South Regular Season and five USA South Tournament Championships. In addition to his team’s performance on the court, Tuggle is also credited with coaching and recruiting 17 All-Conference selections, two USA South Rookies and Players of the Year, and two All-Americans.

“Randy Tuggle was one of the most successful coaches in Greensboro College Athletics history, his record and accolades are well documented, well-earned and much respected,” Greensboro College President Dr. Larry Czarda said. “But, Coach Tuggle meant so much more on campus and to his teams and all GC students.”

Indeed, while making his mark on the court, Tuggle also made a huge impact on the entire Greensboro College and USA South community. Following his diagnosis, Tuggle made it a point to bring awareness to pancreatic cancer and openly shared his story and positive outlook with everyone he came in contact with, even calling his battle rewarding in interviews with multiple media outlets.

During the 2019-2020 season, the USA South Athletic Conference launched a “Tuggle Strong” initiative to help share his story. Over the course of the campaign, each USA South Athletic Conference institution and women’s basketball teams designated one home game to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer, while also raising thousands of dollars in Tuggle’s honor for cancer research.

Tuggle, a lifelong native of the Triad area, graduated from Northwest Guilford High School before going to play college basketball at UNC-Greensboro where he played in the NCAA Tournament and served as a team captain his senior campaign. He joined the Pride community in 2002 to serve as the assistant women’s basketball coach, alongside his cousin Jason Tuggle, before taking of the head spot in 2009-2010.

Randy is survived by his wife Susan, daughter Lauren Childrey (Ryan), grandchildren Ella and Kennedy, and son Jimmy Duck.

9 thoughts on “Greensboro and Guilford County have lost a Great Coach, a Great Leader and a Great Friend:Greensboro College Women’s Basketball Coach Randy Tuggle(Northwest Guilford HS) Passes Away at 62 after Battle with Cancer

  1. Greensboro College women’s basketball coach Randy Tuggle received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in February 2019. He said during February that he was willing to try anything and everything to battle it. “I’m not slowing down,” he told News & Record columnist Ed Hardin. “We’re going to fight and never stop fighting.”

  2. A couple of top players for Randy Tuggle over the years, were Danielle Duncan, from Ragsdale HS, and Nikki Wilbon, from Alamance County…

    Duncan was an unbelievable rebounder, and Wilbon was one heck of a point guard…

    There was another player and she was from Hillsborough Orange HS, and she was a heck of a player(rebounder) too…The Lewis kid, from Southeast Guilford HS, she just graduated this past year, she was another good one…

    There were some real good players that came thorough GC during the Randy Tuggle years…

  3. Ed Hardin
    @Ed_Hardin
    He was a hell of a man. Godspeed, Randy.

    Jefe Mills
    @JeffMillsNR
    I won’t pretend I knew Randy Tuggle well. But what I did know, I liked an awful lot.

  4. Played noon ball with Randy for many years. He was a great guy and one heck of a ball player. He had a great drop step and a nice jumper. More importantly he was a great person and he will be missed. I was lucky to have known him.

  5. My family had the pleasure of calling the Tuggle’s family. My daughter Vontreece Hayes finished her playing career as captain of the 2014-2015 Championship team. After graduate school, she came back and helped him run the program for the last 2yrs. He took her in like his own and had a special relationship that was undeniable. Our family will miss him dearly. We are keeping his wife Susan, his children and the entire Greensboro College community lifted in prayer. As my daughter affectionately called him….Thank you, Slick for everything. #TuggleStrong

  6. Teresa Fister said:

    We lost a great one today/Thursday. Randy Tuggle was an amazing mentor to me. I will forever be thankful for the opportunity he helped give me in my first head college coaching job. He was a constant source of support and guidance. I will miss him, we will all miss him.

    *****Teresa Fister, head softball coach at Greensboro College*****

  7. My family had the pleasure of calling the Tuggle’s family. My daughter Vontreece Hayes finished her playing career as captain of the 2014-2015 Championship team. After graduate school, she came back and helped him run the program for the last 2yrs. He took her in like his own and had a special relationship that was undeniable. Our family will miss him dearly. We are keeping his wife Susan, his children and the entire Greensboro College community lifted in prayer. As my daughter affectionately called him….Thank you, Slick for everything. #TuggleStrong

  8. On the Lewis kid at Greensboro College, it came to me later yesterday..It was Katie Lewis, from Southeast Guilford High School…Still trying to remember the name of that other school record-setting rebounder…

  9. Got some help from Don Tilley on Friday afternoon…

    The young lady from Hillsborough Orange was Brianca Richburg…

    Richburg was that great rebounder….

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