Larry Joe Inman (born January 3, 1948) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. The Tennessee State Lady Tigers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and compete in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's Division I. In 1991, while at

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

, Inman became the first coach to earn the OVC Coach of the Year award at two different schools, having previously been so honored at

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

Biography

A native of

Gallatin, Tennessee Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee. The population was 30,278 at the 2010 census and 44,431 at the 2020 census. Named for United States Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, the city was established on ...

, Inman received his bachelor's degree from

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sitt ...

in 1970 and his master's degree from Tennessee State in 1978. He and his wife, the former Bobbie Gene Follis of

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 residents at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tenness ...

, have a son, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

Coaching career

Iman began his coaching career in 1970 in his hometown, at Gallatin Junior High School, where his teams were 51–4 in his three seasons. The next five years were spent as coach of the girls team at Mount Juliet High School in

Mount Juliet, Tennessee Mt. Juliet (also referred to as Mount Juliet) is a city located in western Wilson County, Tennessee. A suburb of Nashville, it is approximately east of downtown Nashville. Mt. Juliet is located mostly between two major national east-west routes, ...

where his teams went 126–24, won three conference titles, four district and three regional championships, and the 1977 Tennessee Class AAA state tournament. Inman was then hired as the women's coach at Middle Tennessee State University in

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. His Blue Raiders teams won six regular season conference titles and four OVC tournaments in his eight seasons at MTSU. His teams played in the NCAA tournament four consecutive years, 1983–86, and Inman was named OVC Coach of the Year three times. After two years away from coaching, in 1988, Inman was named head coach of the Lady Colonels at Eastern Kentucky University in

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

, a school that had had a winning season only once in eleven OVC seasons. In his third season, the Lady Colonels posted their first winning season in six years, and Inman became the first coach to be named the OVC Coach of the Year at two different institutions. During his twenty-year tenure at EKU, Inman's teams won the OVC regular season five times and the conference tournament twice, advancing to the NCAA tournament twice and the Women's NIT once, and he was named OVC Coach of the Year five times. Inman retired in 2008 but returned to coaching at Lebanon High School in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

in 2010. The all-time winningest coach in Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball history, Inman was elected to the OVC Hall of Fame in 2009. On April 16, 2012, Tennessee State University in Nashville, announced that, following a national search, Inman was to be their new head women's basketball coach. After upsetting SIUE and UT Martin to win the 2015 OVC Women's Basketball Tournament, Inman took his third OVC team to the NCAA Tournament. On March 9, 2017, Inman resigned from Tennessee State for personal reasons.

Head coaching record

''Sources:'' Official Website of the Ohio Valley Conference.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Larry Joe 1948 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Tennessee Eastern Kentucky Colonels women's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball coaches People from Gallatin, Tennessee Tennessee State Lady Tigers basketball coaches