Maryland's Tina Langley named women's coach

By Maddy Adams     4/17/15 10:37am

In response to Greg Williams’ recent retirement, the Rice University Athletic Department has appointed a new women’s basketball coach: former Maryland University Assistant Coach Tina Langley. Langley will be stepping down from her current position as Associate Head Coach at Maryland to join the Rice women’s team next season. The new head coach made an official visit to Rice last week to assess the campus and the team and to share her vision with the community.

Langley said she is excited to familiarize herself with the team and the Rice community.

“I had an opportunity to look around campus today a little bit and probably my favorite moment of the day was getting to sit down with the team and talk about the future and wh  at that might look like. It’s been a very productive and exciting day.”

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Throughout her career, Langley has had many varied athletic and academic experience: She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of West Alabama (‘96), where she lettered twice in basketball. After graduating, she earned two master’s degrees in recreation and leisure at Toledo University (‘03) and in community counseling at the University of Alabama (‘08). She also worked as an assistant coach for three different programs from 1998 to 2005. Langley coached at Maryland for seven years (2008-2015) and played a large role in the team’s 2014-15 34-4 record which included a Final Four appearance.

According to Langley, her time at Maryland allowed her to wait for an ideal head coaching position vacancy.

“I’ve been excited about being head coach for a while now, but I had a fantastic time at Maryland,” Langley said. “Because I was afforded such a great opportunity at Maryland, I was able to wait for what fit me best.”

Langley made the decision to switch to Rice after being approached by Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard. According to Langley, her decision to move to Houston was influenced by the state of women’s basketball in Texas and Rice’s atmosphere.

“The entire state of Texas is a great state for women’s basketball, so I am elated to be here,” Langley said. “I think it’s a hotbed of girl’s basketball talent, and I plan to be all over the state learning about the best players and student athletes in Texas.”

Langley also said she values Rice’s strong academics.

“Rice is about the student athlete; it’s about athletics, academics and excellence,” Langley said. “I think there’s nothing more important for a female student athlete [than to] have the path to success once they finish college that could lead to a playing career but could also lead to a fantastic career in the working world.”

According to sophomore center Adaeze Obinnah, the team needs a coach that can support them as players and students.

“Coach Langley wants to get to know us not just as athletes, but as people too,” Obinnah said. “That was the most important thing we wanted in a coach — someone who demands the very best from us on and off the court.”

Obinnah said that she believes Langley can be this person.

“We really believe she will be that someone,” Obinnah said. “Her experience and success definitely qualify her, but more than that, her personality is what ensures us that Dr. Karlgaard and Stacy Mosley chose the best candidate to be our head coach.”

The successor to former Head Coach Greg Williams toured the campus and spoke with the team. 

According to Langley, she was impressed by the team and their insight.

“I was really impressed with their questioning,” Langley said. “I gave them some time to ask questions and they were very thoughtful and did a nice job of expressing their thoughts for the upcoming season.”

Obinnah said that Langley’s vision for the team aligned well with the team’s.

“The first impression that I got from her was excitement. ... Right off the bat she told us we need to expect higher energy and commitment,” Obinnah said. “I think this lines up perfectly with what the remaining 10 players envision for our team next year.”

Langley said she is looking forward to analyzing the team’s play and deciding the best approach to coaching the Rice women’s team.

“I have a lot of film to watch [and] I’ve got to do a little bit of evaluating of what style of play fits this group the best,” Langley said. “I think it’s very important to play on both ends of court; you run if you haven’t defended and rebounded.”

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