Childers, who is recognized nationally as a program builder, was hired as head women’s basketball coach on April 1 of 2004 and is in his seventh season at Winthrop.
The rebuilding progress took a big turn in 2005-06 and excelled to a new level in 2007-08. In 2005-06 he led the team to a 14-15 record overall and a third place finish in the Big South with a record of 7-7 after going 2-26 and 0-14 just a season before. The 12-win turnaround was second in the nation in 2005-06.In 2007-08, Childers guided the Eagles to the best season in school history with a 20-12 record. The 20-wins were the most by any team since Winthrop moved to the NCAA Division I level. There are numerous team and individual records as well as landmarks reached over the course of the season. Aside from the 20 wins, the Eagles earned their third straight semi-finals berth in the Big South Conference Tournament for the first time in school history. For the first time in school history, Winthrop finished with an above .500 record in league play at 7-5. In the opening round of the BSC Tournament, Winthrop defeated Charleston Southern by 35 points, which set a new record for margin of victory in a post season game for the Eagles.
In 2008-09, the team took the turnaround a step further as it qualified for its first ever NCAA Division I postseason appearance as the Lady Eagles faced Georgetown in the opening round of the WNIT. It was a solid ending to the career of Childers best recruiting class. The Lady Eagles reached another first heading into this season as they will play in the preseason WNIT for the first time in school history.
Just a few weeks before falling in the semi-finals of the conference tourney in the 2007-08 season, Winthrop pulled off what could arguably be the biggest win in school history when it defeated Liberty at home on Feb. 27. The win ended an eleven year drought and a 25-game losing streak versus the Liberty Flames who went on to earn the league’s NCAA bid. The Eagles were the only conference team to defeat Liberty in Big South action during the 2007-08 season. Liberty was ranked 27th in the country by the USA Today/ESPN poll at the time of the Eagles victory, had won 13 straight contests. Liberty finished the regular season ranked 26th in the USA Today poll.
In the first round of the 2005-06 season, Winthrop became the first ever eight-seed to defeat the first-seed in the opening around of the conference tournament in the Big South. Winthrop defeated High Point 57-50 and lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion UNC Asheville.
Childers has led his team to a semi-final appearance in the Big South Conference Tournament in four of his five seasons. Winthrop had only one first round victory in the previous eight seasons before his arrival.
The 14 wins in 2005-06 set a Division I school record for victories in a season, but was bettered last year with 20 wins. In 2005-06 the team finished third in the Big South as well as 2007-08, which tied for the school’s best finish in history.
The 2005-06 season was the most decorated team in Winthrop history as Ashley Fann won Freshman of the Year honors, was named to the second-team All-Big South, the All-Freshmen Team and All-Tournament Team. Iva Milevoj was named to the first-team All-Big South, was on the All-Academic Team and named to the ESPN Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. Tiffany Rodd was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Childers, a 1979 graduate of Charleston Southern University, is the 12th head coach in Winthrop’s women’s basketball history and is also the first male to hold the position. He reached the 400 victory mark last season in the Lady Eagles final home game, a 64-60 win over High Point. He has coached over 24 years as a college head coach, including 19 on the NCAA Division I level. He has an overall record of 456-352 (.564 winning percentage). In each of his previous head coaching jobs, Childers has taken over programs with losing records and built them into successful winning programs.
The 54-year-old Indiana native has never had a losing program in his previous head coaching stints at five different schools. He began his coaching career in 1981 at Cumberland College where he served for two years and led that school to a 49-10 overall record and to the 1983 NJCAA national championship game.
He then served one season at Montevallo University in Alabama where his team compiled a 15-13 mark and qualified for the NAIA tournament.
In 1989 Childers accepted his first Division I job at Murray State. He took over a program that had experienced nine consecutive losing seasons and left five years later with a record of 82-63 with back-to-back 20-win seasons and the school’s first invitation to the Women’s NIT.
He took over as head coach at the University of Louisville in 1989 and in eight years became the all-time winningest coach in that school’s history with a 152-88 record. During his first season at Louisville, he led that school to the second biggest turnaround in women’s college basketball and his second Lady Cardinal team set a school record with 24 victories. Childers also coached Louisville to three NCAA tournament appearances and one WNIT appearance. His 1992-93 squad defeated perennial powerhouse Connecticut on the Huskies’ home floor. His U of L teams also captured the 1993 Metro Conference and 1997 Conference USA championships and he was honored in 1998 as the Conference USA Coach of the Year.
In 1997 he took over a floundering program at James Madison University and in five-plus years there built a program that compiled a 87-65 record and advanced to the 2001 WNIT final four where the Lady Dukes suffered a narrow loss to eventual champion Ohio State. That same season his JMU team ended Old Dominion’s 113-game winning streak in the CAA. He was honored as 2000 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year.
