ROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop head women’s basketball coach Bud Childers will be inducted into the Cumberland University Sports Hall of Fame in October of 2010 as he is one of six chosen for the 2010 Hall of Fame Class.
Childers is joined by Nick Coutras the football coach for the Bulldogs when the program was revived in 1990; baseball All-American Randy Stegall; two-time NAIA National Scholar-Athlete and two-sport athlete Rita Maynard McCarthy; junior college All-American baseball player Roger Cox; and baseball player Tommy Smith, a member of CU’s first NAIA World Series team.
"It's an honor to be even given consideration for a Hall of Fame, but to be selected for induction is beyond words or feelings,” said Childers, who is entering his 7th season with the Lady Eagles. “My years at Cumberland were really special and ones I have always looked back upon with appreciation. I have always said the 82-83 team was arguably the best team I ever coached. There were a lot of great people there who took time to nurture me along the way so I could succeed. I feel humbled and honored by this recognition for sure."
Childers began his collegiate career at Mississippi State and transferred to Cumberland College in 1976, playing basketball for coach Mickey Englett and baseball for coach Harry Frank for one season. He then left for Charleston Southern, where he was a First Team Academic All-American as a senior.
His resume as a head coach speaks for itself as he’s compiled a 454-316 record in 26 seasons at six different schools and has taken all six programs to the postseason, including four at the Division I level.
Childers first head coaching job was at Cumberland as the women’s basketball coach for two seasons. He led the Bulldogs to the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship game in 1983 with 13 freshmen and one sophomore and compiling a 49-10 record in his two years.
He then took over at Montevallo University for one season, helping the Falcons to the NAIA National Tournament, before taking the head coaching position at Murray State and leading the Racers to an 82-63 record in five seasons with consecutive 20-win campaigns.
Childers moved to the University of Louisville for eight years, posting a 152-88 mark and leading the Cardinals to a pair of regular season conference championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He then became head coach at James Madison for five years, compiling an 87-65 record that included Coach of the Year honors in 2000. The Dukes also ended Old Dominion’s 113-game conference winning streak in 2001.
Currently at Winthrop, Childers has a 71-113 record in six seasons. In 2007-08 he guided the Lady Eagles to their best season in school history with a 20-12 mark. The 20 wins is the most in school history and the program made its first post-season appearance with a trip to Georgetown in the WNIT. Other accomplishments at Winthrop include first ever back-to-back winning seasons in Big South Conference action, signing Tiffany Rodd who became the Big South all-time leader in three-point field goals made, school record nine conference victories in 2007-08, signing Ashley Fann who became the school’s all-time leading Division I scorer and all-time rebounder and is the school’s all-time leader in wins by a head coach.