Larry Epperly, who has 20 years of head coaching experience at the college level, has been named the Averett University women's basketball coach, the school announced on Tuesday.
Epperly takes over the Averett women's program after serving as an assistant coach for Division I East Carolina University's men's basketball program. Averett is coming off its best season in program history after the Cougars went 17-9 overall and 12-6 in the USA South Conference.
Prior to his time at East Carolina, Epperly was a men's head coach at the Division II level for 20 years. He spent 10 years at the University of South Carolina at Aiken, where he also served as assistant athletic director. During the 1992-93 season, Epperly led the Pacers to the Peach Belt Conference regular-season and tournament championships, which earned him Peach Belt Coach of the Year honors. He departed Aiken for Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., where he was named the head men's basketball coach and athletic director. During his final season at Limestone, Epperly guided the Saints to a 20-9 record — their best season as a Division II member — which included an 83-80 victory over eventual Division II national champion Barton College. His career record in 20 seasons as a head coach on the men's side is 251-314.
Epperly spent one year on the coaching staff at Emory & Henry College as an assistant after he finished his playing career for the Wasps. Following a three-year stint as a high school coach, he returned to college coaching as an assistant at Division I Ohio University.
After three seasons at Ohio, Epperly returned to his native state of Virginia where he served as an assistant coach at the University of Richmond from 1981-85. He recruited Danville native and former NBA standout Johnny Newman and was a part of a staff that won two Colonial Athletic Association championships, made two NIT appearances and one NCAA Tournament appearance in which the Spiders advanced to the second round by upsetting fifth-seeded Auburn in 1984.
Epperly also coached on the staffs at James Madison University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Epperly holds a bachelor's degree from Emory & Henry College and a master's degree from Virginia Tech.
He and his wife, Jenny, have two children, Tyler and Elizabeth.
