Andrew Stephens enters his first season with the Lady Tigers' Basketball Program. He will assume the role of Director of Basketball Operations. He has 21 years in total of coaching experience with the last 11 seasons spent at the secondary and collegiate levels.
“I am really blessed to be on such a quality staff. Coach Broughton has done a great job putting all of us together and I am really looking forward to helping her and the staff be the best we can be for Texas Southern University. Under Coach Broughton’s leadership, we have a great chance to do something special here.”
Stephens comes to TSU from Panola Junior College in Carthage, Texas where he was the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach for three seasons. During his tenure at Panola, Stephens had numerous responsibilities including on-court coaching, recruiting, overseeing team academics, and overseeing strength and conditioning. He helped produce 3 NJCAA Academic-All Americans, 6 NJCAA Region 14 All-Academic performers, 1 NJCAA Region 14 First Team student-athlete and 2 All Texas Eastern Athletic Conference performers. Under his leadership, the 2009-2010 team finished fifth in country in GPA amongst junior colleges with a 3.32 GPA. In the 2008-2009 season on the court, Panola reached the NJCAA Region 14 Quarterfinals. 17 student-athletes went on to sign to play basketball at four year institutions while Stephens was on staff. 7 student-athletes signed on to play at NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II institutions.
“Coach Stellato does an excellent job at Panola and I had the great opportunity to work for her and grow both as a person and a basketball coach.”
Stephens was the Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at North Pointe Preparatory in Phoenix, Arizona for the 2007-2008 season. There, he guided the basketball program into its first season of state tournament eligibility. The team captured the program’s first tournament championship in history when they brought home the Consolation Championship of the Tonopah Christmas Classic. His program produced one All AIA 2A Central Team performer Justin Stephens (no relation), who also led the region in scoring.
Prior to North Pointe, Stephens spent two seasons as the Head Girls’ Basketball Coach at Globe High School in Globe, Arizona. His teams compiled a 2 year mark of 41-19 and earned two straight AIA 3A State Tournament berths. The 2006-2007 team was ranked as high as second in the state and would reach the State “Elite 8”. Stephens led Globe to their first victory outside of Arizona when they defeated Santa Fe (NM) early in the season. The team continued their success by capturing the Red Bracket Consolation Championship at the nation’s #1 girls’ high school basketball tournament, The Nike Tournament of Champions, held in Phoenix, Arizona. The team would finish the season leading the entire state of Arizona in three-point field goals made and second overall in total field goals made. Emily Belvado was selected as an Arizona All-American in 2006 and she continued her career at Whittier College (Whittier, CA). Chantel and Taylor Romans would also move on from the program and continue their playing careers at Scottsdale Community College (Scottsdale, AZ).
Stephens spent the 2004-2005 season at Westwood High School in Fort Pierce, Florida as the Head Girls’ Basketball Coach. There, he led his program to the FHSAA District 14-4A Semifinals. Team leading scorer Crystal Bell was selected to participate in the U.S. Junior Nationals program and she went on to play college basketball at Brevard Junior College (Melbourne, FL).
Landmark Christian School (Fairburn, GA) gave Stephens his first chance at being a head girls’ basketball coach at the high school level for the 2003-2004 season. Stephens led that program to a third place finish in GHSA Region 5-A and a trip to the first round of the State Tournament. Stephens’ team was ranked as high as seventh in the state of Georgia that season. The Varsity team in his program was strong in the classroom posting a 3.3 GPA for the academic year.
Stephens also has club coaching experience as well. In 2001, he helped start a 13 and Under Boys’ team in the Northlakers Basketball Association based out of Atlanta, Georgia. As the head coach for three seasons, he built a very competitive program that was able to finish in the top 30 at the YBOA 15U National Championships in 2004.
Stephens has several seasons as a high school assistant under his belt as well. He served as a Varsity Boys’ Basketball Assistant at Towers High School (Decatur, GA) for the 2002-2003 season, and at Loganville High School (Loganville, GA) for the 2001-2002 season.
During his career, Stephens has worked at many basketball camps including his own. He was also on staff at the Ten-Star All Star Basketball Camp in Arizona in 2006 and the Adidas Junior Top 150 Exposure Camp held in Arizona in 2008.
“This is a long way from working those volunteer jobs at the parks and recreation department. I know that God is the reason that I have made to this point, and I am excited to be here at Texas Southern to see what is next,” Stephens said.
He is a current member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and served as a featured speaker at the Junior College Coaches’ Roundtables during the 2011 WBCA National Convention in Indianapolis.
Stephens graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Journalism in 1997. He is married to the former Miss Rachel Langston of Morrilton, Arkansas.
