After two successful seasons guiding the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball program to Southern Conference tournament championships, head coach Shawn Poppie is moving on.
According to multiple sources, including a report from On3sports' Matt Connelly, who covers Clemson University athletics, Poppie has agreed to become the new head coach at Clemson, replacing Amanda Butler who was fired after six seasons with the Tigers.
(READ MORE: 5 intriguing names who could replace UTC women’s coach Shawn Poppie)
Poppie — the two-time SoCon Coach of the Year — was 48-18 in his two seasons in Chattanooga, revitalizing a program that had fallen to middle of the pack in the SoCon in recent seasons. The Mocs finished second in the league in his first season, but defeated Furman, East Tennessee State and Wofford in the tournament to claim the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017 with a 63-53 win over the favored Terriers.
The Mocs finished 28-5 this season, with all but one loss — against Coastal Carolina — coming against postseason participants. Poppie's team also claimed wins over Mississippi State and Kent State, the latter of which won the Mid-American Conference championship.
Under his leadership, junior-to-be Raven Thompson was the 2023 SoCon Freshman of the Year and tournament Most Valuable Player, and was a first-team All-SoCon selection this past season. Jada Guinn, who transferred in from Tennessee Tech after being named the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference tournament MVP, earned the same honor in the SoCon this offseason with a three-game stretch in which she averaged 27.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 61% from the field.
Guinn, who was a graduate transfer, is expected to be the only loss from this season's team as Poppie alluded after Saturday's NCAA tournament loss to North Carolina State that Sigrun Olafsdottir — who still has her COVID-19 season remaining — would be using that waiver and returning for the 2024-25 season.
Now Poppie gets to return to an area that he's very familiar with. The Crescent City, Illinois native played collegiately at Division II Limestone, where he was a two-time Carolinas-Virginia Athletic All-Conference player and graduated as the all-time leader in assists and steals and was third in scoring. He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2017.
He started his coaching career at his alma mater, helping the Saints to the Division II National Tournament in 2012. From there he went to South Carolina-Upstate before moving on to Furman, which is 45 minutes from Clemson.
He was an assistant at Virginia Tech the seven seasons prior to being named the UTC head coach in April of 2022.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton/ UTC Women's head coach Shawn Poppie is expected to resign to accept an offer to take over the women's program at Clemson University.