Even within the HBCU world, Toccara Toland’s red-hot Clinton Faculty squad is usually missed. It’s one thing that’s not new for the top coach of the small, personal HBCU in Rock Hill, SC. She’s needed to take care of it as a highschool prospect from a small 1A faculty, a D3 guard and a coach rising up the ranks by way of highschool, semi-pro and faculty basketball.
The newly appointed head coach of Clinton Faculty’s ladies’s basketball workforce has constructed a profession rooted in religion, perseverance, and an unshakable dedication to household. And like many nice tales within the HBCU sports activities world, hers is one among willpower, sacrifice, and unwavering perception.
Behind each play name, recruiting journey, and sport plan, there was one fixed— her religion.
“I simply need to be aligned with no matter God has for me,” Toland mentioned in an unique interview with HBCU Gameday. “No matter my objective is, or no matter is in His will, that’s what I need to do.”
Toland’s street to HBCU basketball wasn’t linear. A product of North, South Carolina, she wasn’t closely recruited by HBCUs — or anybody — popping out of highschool, regardless of averaging 21 factors per sport. She ended up at Ferrum Faculty, a small Division III program in Virginia, the place she turned an All-American, led the nation in assists, and cemented her title within the faculty’s Corridor of Fame.
“I at all times cherished HBCUs. It was one thing I wanted I had skilled, and once I obtained the possibility to educate at one, I knew it was my alternative to offer again,” she mentioned.
She obtained that chance at Allen College. She helped Allen report its first profitable report in three years in 2022-23 once they went 14-13 and made it to the SIAC convention quarterfinals.
Toland’s teaching profession began at the highschool stage, however it was her time at Piedmont Worldwide (now Carolina College) —an NCCAA program—that actually put her on the trail to management. There, she realized the intricacies of program-building, recruiting, and growing student-athletes on and off the courtroom. However extra importantly, it was there that she solidified her teaching philosophy.
She constructed her profession on relationships. To Toccara Toland, teaching isn’t nearly wins and losses; it’s about empowerment, steering, and serving to younger ladies uncover their very own potential. That perception has carried her from Piedmont Worldwide to Allen College, Lengthy Island College, and now Clinton Faculty.
Religion has performed a task in each main resolution she has made. When the chance at Clinton arose, it wasn’t a simple alternative. She had spent a season at LIU, gaining Division I expertise, studying the ins and outs of a program on the highest stage of school basketball. However she left New York to being nearer to dwelling, nearer to her youngsters, and in an atmosphere that embraced her imaginative and prescient. Thus far, that has proved to be the fitting name.
“It was undoubtedly a tough resolution. I needed to pray on it,” Toland mentioned. “However as soon as I obtained right here, I knew it was dwelling. The folks right here poured into me earlier than I even obtained began. They believed in me earlier than I gave them something.”
And that perception has already paid off. In her first season at Clinton, she’s taken a roster constructed from scratch and turned it right into a contender. The Golden Bears have been nationally ranked within the NCCAA, gone on a nine-game profitable streak, and are in prime place for a deep postseason run. Not unhealthy for a program that needed to be assembled piece by piece.
Her skill to recruit, inspire, and develop gamers is simple. Gamers from her earlier stops adopted her to Clinton, believing in her imaginative and prescient. And when she wanted extra expertise, she discovered gamers hungry for a possibility, very like she was years in the past.
However for all of the success on the courtroom, her most essential position is the one she performs at dwelling. As a mom to a graduating highschool senior and a nine-year-old son, Toccara Toland has by no means overlooked her priorities. Balancing a training profession and motherhood isn’t simple, however she credit her religion and the assist methods round her for making it doable.
“My jobs have at all times been family-oriented. That’s been a blessing. My youngsters have been in a position to be a part of the journey with me,” she mentioned. “I make certain I’m current of their lives, and we make it work.”
As Clinton Faculty continues its rise underneath Toland’s management, one factor is evident—her success isn’t simply measured in wins and losses, however within the influence she has on the younger ladies she leads. She’s greater than a coach; she’s a mentor, a frontrunner, and a girl of religion making her mark in HBCU basketball.
“I don’t need to get too caught up within the wins and losses,” she mentioned. “As a result of I perceive now that as a result of I’m aligned with God’s objective and can for my life, these will come.”
They’re coming quick and livid proper now, and Toccara Toland doesn’t look to decelerate any time quickly.
