Garry Brodhead (born August 27, 1957) is the coach of the

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball program represents intercollegiate women's basketball at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in the Sun Belt Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

team since 2012. Before joining the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

team, Brodhead worked as a farmer between 1978 and 1997. For his basketball career, Brodhead was the girls coach at

Teurlings Catholic High School Teurlings Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, US . Background Teurlings Catholic High School was established in 1955 as Father Teurlings High School. Fat ...

from 1997 to 2007. While accumulating 297 wins and 78 losses, his team won the 3A division of the

Louisiana High School Athletic Association The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) is the agency that regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana. Organization LHSAA was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in ...

tournament in 2002. Brodhead also co-founded the Acadiana Stars girls basketball team in 1987 and the Girls World Biddy Basketball League by the mid-1990s. For his college basketball career, Brodhead held multiple positions for the

McNeese State Cowgirls basketball The McNeese State Cowgirls basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The team competes in the Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a co ...

team from 2007 to 2012. With the Cajuns, Brodhead and his team won the

Women's Basketball Invitational The Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) is a women's college basketball tournament created in 2009 by Sport Tours. The inaugural tournament occurred at the conclusion of the 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Selections for t ...

in 2015 and 2016. The following year, his players were second at the 2017 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament. They also reached the first round of the 2021

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournam ...

during the postseason.

Early life and education

Brodhead was born on August 27, 1957, in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

. While at the

between the late 1970s and early 1980s, he attended a

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

program. During his time at the university, Brodhead competed in

pole vaulting Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. As a

graduate student Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

in the mid-1990s, he was an assistant coach for their women's basketball team.

Career

Farming

In 1978, Brodhead went to

Youngsville, Louisiana Youngsville is a city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area. The population was 8,105 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 15,929 at the 2020 United States census. Youngsville was the bi ...

and became a farmer. By the 1980s, Brodhead was a basketball coach while he worked in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. Brodhead focused on cucumbers between the late 1980s and late 1990s. During this time period, Brodhead was the vice president of Doucet Grain in 1987. Brodhead decided to stop working as a farmer during 1997.

Girls basketball

During 1987, Brodhead created the Acadiana Stars girls basketball team with his wife. With the Stars, his Under-12 team had a fifth place tie during the 2006 AAU National Championship. By the mid-1990s, the Brodheads co-founded the Girls World Biddy Basketball League for

Acadiana Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...

residents. In 1997, Brodhead became the coach for

's girls basketball team. By 1998, he was working for multiple basketball teams while also teaching at Teurlings. In 2002, Brodhead and his team won the 3A division of the

tournament. At the 2004 edition, Brodhead's team was second at the 3A event. While at Teurlings Catholic, Brodhead was considered by UL to coach their women's basketball team in May 2007. After accumulating 297 wins and 78 losses, Brodhead ended his time with Teurlings Catholic the following month.

College basketball

From 2007 to 2012, Brodhead worked with the

team. While with McNesese State as an assistant coach, he also became their

associate head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

during the 2010s. In April 2012, Brodhead became the coach of the women's basketball team at UL Lafayette. During the 2020-21

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

season, Brodhead's players had their "first regular season championship in the team's 50-year history". As a

competitor, Brodhead and UL won the event in 2015. The team re-won the WBI the following year. His

team were second at the 2017 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament. At the

, Brodhead's team reached the first round of the 2021 postseason event.

Honors and personal life

While with Teurlings Catholic, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association chose him as the 2002 girls basketball Coach of the Year for 3A schools. In 2016, he was the LSWA's Coach of the Year for women's basketball teams during his time at UL Lafayette. He had three children during his marriage.

References

{{reflist 1957 births Farmers from Louisiana High school basketball coaches in Louisiana McNeese Cowgirls basketball coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball coaches Living people