Elon Women’s Basketball Adds Edgar Farmer, Jr. to Coaching Staff

ELON, N.C. – Elon University women’s basketball head coach Charlotte Smith announced Tuesday, May 15, the addition of former Wofford head coach and Clemson assistant coach Edgar Farmer, Jr. to her coaching staff. Farmer fills the spot left by Cristy McKinney, who retired last week after a 36-year career in the game.

“We are excited to add a very experienced and very educated basketball mind in Edgar to our coaching staff,” Smith said. “Edgar has 12 seasons as a head coach under his belt, knows what it takes to win and has a deep history coaching here in the Carolinas. I have known Edgar since his time as the technical coordinator for our 1994 national championship team at North Carolina and coached against him during our time in the Southern Conference before transitioning to the CAA. I’m thrilled to bring him on board with our program as we strive for even greater heights in 2018-19.”

“I am honored about the opportunity to join the championship culture Charlotte Smith has created,” Farmer said. “Elon is an excellent university with committed student-athletes and an energetic staff. I am very excited about following Coach Smith’s blueprint for success and continuing to help the Phoenix rise.”

Farmer joins Elon’s coaching staff after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Clemson from 2016-18. Before joining the Tigers, Farmer served as head coach at Wofford for 12 seasons from 2004-2016 and became the second-winningest coach in Terrier history.

With Clemson, Farmer’s first year saw him help the Tigers to an 11-win turnaround from the previous season while helping the program to an 11-2 non-conference record, the best non-ACC mark for Clemson since the 2003-04 campaign. Farmer also helped Clemson to its first ACC Tournament win since 2014, beating Virginia Tech 67-66 in the 2017 tournament in Conway, S.C. Focusing on the post players while at Clemson, Farmer helped Kobi Thornton to a spot on the 2017 ACC All-Freshman Team, becoming the first Tiger rookie since the 2012 season to make the team.

At Wofford, Farmer took over a program that was winless the year before he was hired and became he second-winningest coach in program history with 99 victories. The Terriers increased their win total in each of Farmer’s first three seasons with the program, and his 2015-16 team outperformed preseason expectations in the Southern Conference coaches and media polls. During his time at Wofford, Farmer led the Terriers to a 58-52 road victory over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In all, Farmer spent 14 seasons with Wofford women’s basketball, serving as an assistant coach for two years from 2002-04 before taking over ahead of the 2004-05 campaign.

In his time in Spartanburg, S.C., Farmer developed Mahogony Williams into SoCon Freshman of the Year in 2007-08 and she went on to become a 1,000-point scorer. Additionally, Chloe Wanink was tabbed a SoCon Media All-Freshman Team honoree in 2015-16. Off the court and in the classroom, Farmer’s teams posted perfect APR scores in 11 of his 12 seasons.

Prior to his time at Wofford, Farmer served as an assistant coach at East Carolina for two years from 2000-02. Before that, he was head coach of Plant Basketball Women’s Select Team in 2001 and a men’s assistant coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M from 1999-2000.

A Newport News, Va., native, Farmer earned his bachelor’s degree in 1994 from the University of North Carolina. At UNC, he was member of the junior varsity men’s basketball team. In 1993-94, Farmer served as the audio-visual technical coordinator for the national champion North Carolina women’s basketball team when Smith hit the game-winning three-pointer with no time left on the clock. During the season with the team, he filmed practices and games and assisted in the breakdown of film for the Tar Heels.

Farmer and his wife, Tara, were married in July 2011. The couple has two daughters, Kalan and Kieryn.

Coaching Timeline
1993-94: Audio-Visual Technical Coordinator, North Carolina
1999-2000: Assistant Coach, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (men’s program)
2001: Head Coach, Plant Basketball Women’s Select Team
2000-02: East Carolina, Assistant Coach
2002-04: Wofford, Assistant Coach
2004-16: Wofford, Head Coach
2016-18: Clemson, Assistant Coach
2018-present: Elon, Assistant Coach