PETERSBURG, VA — Virginia State College formally ushered in a brand new period for its ladies’s basketball program with the introduction of Millette Inexperienced because the seventh head coach on the HBCU. The press convention was full of celebration, delight, and excessive expectations, as college officers and Coach Inexperienced outlined the imaginative and prescient for this system’s future.
Virginia State President Dr. Makola Abdullah opened the occasion by extending a heat welcome to Inexperienced and crediting Athletic Director Tiffani-Daybreak Sykes for her swift and decisive work. “I need to welcome you, Coach Inexperienced, to Virginia State College. We’re excited to have you ever right here,” he stated, praising her ardour and expertise.
Sykes echoed that enthusiasm.
“If you find yourself figuring out a coach, you might be searching for a relentless recruiter,” she stated. “Coach Inexperienced understands that duty and accepted the problem, which is why she is the best match to guide this program at the moment.”
Inexperienced arrives with a embellished résumé that features assistant teaching stints at packages like Wake Forest, William & Mary, and Robert Morris, and a head teaching position at Augusta College. She additionally brings a deep connection to Virginia.
“Coach Inexperienced is a Virginia native… a product of the Boo Williams Summer season League,” Sykes famous. “She brings Division II head teaching expertise and has helped land a high 25 recruiting class at Wake Forest.”
When Inexperienced took the rostrum, she was visibly moved.
“I’m really honored, grateful, and blessed to face earlier than you as we speak as the brand new head ladies’s basketball coach on the Virginia State College,” she stated. “First, I need to thank President Abdullah, Athletic Director Miss Sykes for believing in me, giving me the chance to guide a program with such a wealthy basketball historical past.”
Inexperienced’s imaginative and prescient for the HBCU extends far past the hardwood.
“Sure, I need to win. However extra importantly, my objective is to empower these ladies to be nice on and off the courtroom,” she stated. “My final aim is to graduate champions—ladies who should not simply athletes, however future leaders.”
She emphasised a fast-paced, defensive-minded enjoying fashion.
“We’re going to play quick, play sensible, play with ardour… creating stress, forcing turnovers,” she stated. Simply as essential, she added, is constructing neighborhood. “We can be lively and visual on this neighborhood. I need you to really feel related to this program and proud to be part of our journey.”
When requested about her determination to go away Wake Forest, a Energy 4 program, for a Division II HBCU alternative, Inexperienced was reflective and assured.
“After being there, I spotted basketball is identical… they could have extra assets, okay, however I can adapt wherever,” she stated. “I used to be able to be a head coach. The chance offered itself once more to come back again dwelling… plenty of it was God swinging that instinctive facet.”
That mindset, mixed along with her aggressive drive, makes it clear she’s centered on extra than simply wins — she desires to go away an enduring influence.
“Let’s make historical past by being the primary ladies’s basketball crew at Virginia State College to advance previous the primary spherical of the NCAA match and compete for a nationwide championship,” she stated. “I’m fired up. I’m centered. I’m able to work. Let’s go make historical past. Hail State.”
