Norfolk State women’s basketball is looking to keep its hold on the HBCU/MEAC basketball world and it appears to have its man to replace Larry Vickers Jr.
Current Coppin State head coach Jermaine Woods is reportedly finalizing a deal that would have him replace Larry Vickers as the program’s head coach. The news was first reported by Liv Antilla and confirmed to HBCU Gameday by a source.
The Norfolk, VA native recently led Coppin State to a 19-15 record, ending its season in the second round of the WNIT. One of those wins was against Arizona State.
Woods went 30-40 in his first two seasons at CSU. In his first season as head coach, Woods guided the Eagles to non-conference wins Winthrop, Saint Peter’s and St. Francis (Pa.) and a fifth seed in the MEAC Tournament. Mossi Staples and Jewel Watkins both earned Second Team All-Conference honors while Watkins was placed on the league’s defensive team. In a victory over Delaware State, CSU set a then school-record with 12 3-pointers and the squad set a single-season record with 181 3-point field goals.
During Woods’ second season as head coach, Coppin State advanced to the MEAC Semifinals for the first time since 2016 and posted impressive non-conference road wins at FIU and Pittsburgh. The victory against the Panthers was CSU’s first-ever against a Power Conference program. Earning the four seed in the MEAC Tournament, Laila Lawrence and Faith Blackstone earned major MEAC awards, 1st Team All-Conference accolades and BOXTOROW HBCU All-America honors. Angel Jones also picked up 2nd Team All-Conference recognition.
Woods started his playing career at Belmont-Abbey before finishing out at Christopher Newport University where he was a D3 All-American. He started his coaching career at Virginia Tech before transitioning to Old Dominion and Wake Forest. He joined the Baltimore-based HBCU as associate head coach in 2020.
Now he’s returning back home to take charge of a program that won 30 games and is the three-time defending MEAC Tournament champion. Last month Woods got a taste of being back home during the MEAC Tournament.
“I didn’t sleep at all. I haven’t been sleeping. Haven’t eaten either. So I need to eat. I’m going to have a good meal today,” Woods said during the MEAC Tournament. “People are feeding us good. We have nice, fancy restaurants every day, and people are taking care of us.”
In addition to to eating well, Jermaine Woods now has the task of keeping Norfolk State on top of the HBCU and MEAC hill and keeping it as one of the best mid-major programs in the country.