Drew Thompson, Sports Editor
VCU women’s basketball unveiled Chelsea Banbury as its 14th head coach on March 31.
Banbury coached at High Point University for the past seven seasons, winning four regular season conference championships, three conference tournaments and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Three of those four regular season titles came in the last three years, as well as back-to-back conference tournament championships. Banbury finished last season at 27-6, her fourth 20-win season in seven years.
Banbury opened her introductory press conference by first thanking the community.
“You guys have a great group of people that welcomed us with open arms,” Banbury said. “They’ve made it feel like home from the beginning. So I do appreciate that and I want to thank all of you.”
Banbury then followed by promising to develop and challenge the current student athletes, asking that they “fall in love” with the process.
Banbury detailed her game plan on both ends of the court for the upcoming season. Offensively, the plan is to push the pace and rely on spacing and efficiency while utilizing screens and motions to create advantages.
“We’re going to attack the basket and we are going to shoot a lot,” Banbury said. “We will utilize the three point line.”
The same intensity applies defensively. Banbury plans to employ a relentless man-to-man defense that forces opponents to be uncomfortable and inefficient.
“Our identity is going to be built on effort, discipline, and the ‘we over me’ mentality,” Banbury said. “When people watch us, I want them to see a team that competes every single possession, and a team that loves competing together.”
Banbury understands that culture cannot be built overnight, but she asked fans, alumni and the Richmond community to stand with her.
“We’re going to give you a team that you can be proud of. One that represents VCU with passion and grit,” Banbury said. “I promise you this — we will show up every single day ready to work, ready to compete and ready to grow.”