University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Looking to the Future with Honey Brown, Head Women's Basketball Coach
03.30.2023 | General, Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Honey Brown is entering her fourth year as Head Coach for the WOmen's Basketball program here at UNC Asheville. Brown became the 11th head coach in program history and the seventh since the program moved to Division I in the 1986-87 season on April 7, 2020. She has spent the past eight seasons as an assistant for the Bulldogs under former Head Coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick Brown. After six seasons, she was elevated to associate head coach prior to the start of the 2018-19 campaign. Prior to her time on the Bulldogs' bench, Brown spent four seasons as an assistant at Saint Louis working primarily with SLU's point guards. Before her time with the Billikens, Brown served as director and head trainer at Performance Training, Inc., in Orlando, Fla. While there, she managed all aspects of the company, including staffing, schedules and marketing. Brown also spent four years as an assistant at Ohio University and a season as an assistant at Central Florida. She got her start in coaching as an assistant with Lenoir City High School in Lenoir City, Tenn. While with LCHS, she helped lead the Panthers to a state tournament appearance in 1998. A 1994 graduate of Maryville College, she was third in the nation in three-point percentage for Division III her junior year, while serving as a team captain her final two seasons. The Scots made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA III Tournament during her career at Maryville, including two trips to the round of 16.
What is a piece of advice that you would give your past self in terms of navigating athletics as a female? I would tell myself to network more. Knowing people in this business is very important and I believe as a young coach I could've met more people and followed up more along the way.
What area of women's athletics do you see most impacted by Title IX? Money. Not actual money in hands but the requirement athletic departments have to make things equitable with funding for women's sports.
What do you hope to see in the future for women in sports administration roles? I see even more doors opening for women in leadership roles in the NCAA and in men's pro sports. The women administrators that have paved the way have done such a good job that it's hard for people not to consider the best candidate no matter if it's a male or female.
ÂHow do you see the future of UNC Asheville Athletics? What is something that looks promising? I believe the future at UNC Asheville is very bright. We came out of a tough situation with covid and enrollment issues and still found a way to get things done . A lot of credit to Janet Cone, our AD, Chancellor Cable and our other leaders for being creative and forward thinking so we did not take major steps backwards. We have several positive things for the future. A new track is being installed and eventually the Justice Center will be updated. Our baseball facility will add to their facilities as well. The future is bright!
As we look to the future of college athletics, what is the biggest change you have seen that you hope to see sustainable growth in? One area of growth in athletics is caring about student athlete experience and mental health. I believe those areas must continue to grow.
Who is a female in athletics that you look up to? Pat Summitt, even though she has passed she did so many things for the game. She pushed them to their best. She developed and cared for her players on and off the court.
Join us for Our Turn to Play Scholarship Dinner April 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the Wilma M. Sherrill Center to celebrate our female student athletes and highlight some impactful women in the sports industry. Sponsorships and Ticket opportunities are available by contacting Anna Catherine Pritchard at apritch2@unca.edu or visiting the ticket link HERE.Â
