Debbie Black

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2018  –  Benin

Debbie Black begins her second season as the Mocs’ assistant coach. She came to UTC as Director of Operations for Jim Foster. With his departure, she was promoted to assistant in Katie Burrows’ first season.

UTC head coach Jim Foster and Black have an extensive association. She first played for the Hall of Fame coach at St. Joseph’s leading the Hawks to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances before graduating in 1984.

Her first assistant coaching position was for Foster at Vanderbilt during the 1999-2000 season. Following her retirement from the WNBA in 2005, she returned to assist Foster at Ohio State for eight seasons. The Buckeyes advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2009 and 2011.

She spent the last four seasons at Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference. She led the Panthers to the OVC Tournament twice and finished tied for second in the West in the 2013-14 campaign.

She represented Team USA at the Williams Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The team had a 7-1 record and won the gold medal after defeating Japan 56-54 in the final. She played eight seasons with the Tasmanian Islanders of the WNBL in Australia and helped them to national titles in 1991 and 1995.

In the ABL she was an All-Star selection for the Colorado Xplosion and the 1997 Defensive Player of the Year. While playing for the Atlanta Glory in December 1996, she became one of just a handful of players to record a quadruple double (10p, 14r, 12a, 10s).

In 1999, Black was drafted by the Utah Starzz of the WNBA in the second round. She played for the Miami Sol from 2000-2002 and earned the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award at the age of 35. In 2003 she was acquired by the Connecticut Sun in the dispersal draft and was there until her retirement in 2005.

Black was hired in May 2013, and served four years as the Panthers’ head coach, compiling a 34-80 record. Her best season was her first, leading Eastern Illinois to a 12-16 record. She replaced Lee Buchanan, who coached for one season before taking the head coaching job of the LaGrange Panthers.