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On Tuesday, Troy University Women’s Basketball announced the hiring of new assistant coach Stephanie Murphy.

Troy Head Coach Chanda Rigby announced the hiring via press release. Murpy will replace longtime Troy assistant Courtney Simmons, who was hired to serve as the new head coach at Grambling State in April. Murphy comes to Troy after five seasons as the head coach at Coahoma Community College in Mississippi.

“Coach Murphy is a tremendous addition to our staff at Troy,” Rigby said. “She has proven to be a great recruiter, has passion for player development and takes pride in coaching team defense. We are blessed to have her join our family, as she will surely help us towards our goal of winning another Sun Belt Championship.”

Rigby herself started her head coaching career at the junior college (JUCO) level. She coached at Tabor College, Holmes Community College and Pensacola State before coming to Troy. Murphy’s Coahoma squads went 65-49 during her tenure and a team that went 2-20 the year before her arrival, went 7-16 her first year and improved every year until going 21-7 in 2021-2022. She won the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges (MACC) Coach of the Year in 2022 and led her team to a MACCC Championship game and the NJCAA region 23 semifinals.

“I feel extremely blessed and honored to be given the opportunity to join the women’s basketball staff at Troy,” Murphy said. “Coach Rigby is a championship coach, a proven winner. I look forward to learning from her and doing everything I possibly can to assist her in accomplishing her vision of bringing a national championship to Troy.”

Before becoming the head coach at Coahoma, Murphy spent 14 years as a head coach at the high school level in Mississippi. She coached at Brandon, Tupelo and Meridian High Schools. Her teams finished state runner-up three times, won six district titles and a South State Championship. Her record at the high school level was 326-124 and in 2007, she was named the Daily Journal’s Coach of the Year.

Murphy is a Webb, Miss., native that played high school basketball at West Tallahatchie High School. She went on to play college basketball at Ole Miss. Murphy was not just a basketball star, she was also a star in the class room earning salutatorian in her senior class in high school and SEC All-Academic honors in college. A number of her players at the college level have also earned All-Academic honors.

Rigby’s staff now includes Murphy, former Arkansas All-American Chelsea Dungee and longtime Troy assistant Jennifer Graf.