June 15, 2006
NORFOLK, VA-- Old Dominion University head coach Wendy Larry announced today that Nikita Lowry Dawkins who served as a Lady Monarch assistant coach from 2003-05 will return to the staff. Lowery Dawkins was an assistant atTexas Tech this past season under Marsha Sharp, who retired in March.
"I am thrilled that we are bringing Nikita and her husband Tony back hometo Hampton Roads and the Old Dominion University Lady Monarch program,"said Larry. "Our basketball family has missed her, and I am looking forward to the addition of her enthusiasm and basketball savvy to our staff."
While at ODU, the Lady Monarchs were 47-16 in her two years and won two Colonial Athletic Association titles as well as advancing to two NCAA tournaments.
"I am excited to be coming back home," said Lowry Dawkins. "Not a lot ofpeople get the opportunity to come back to the place they have been before, or towork with the players I had the opportunity to recruit. It's a blessing and I can'twait to get started, and help the Lady Monarch's to national prominence."
Lowry Dawkins has a wealth of coaching and playing experience,including head coaching stints at New Mexico State and Detroit Mercy, and assistantCoaching positions at New Mexico State, Ohio State and Michigan.
As a head coach, Lowry Dawkins took Detroit Mercy to two Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles and the school's first ever NCAA appearance in 1997.While there, she coached 10 all-conference players and 20 honor students.
During the 2000-01 season she joined the New Mexico State staff, servingboth as an assistant and head coach. In her first season as head coach in 2001-02,her team set an NCAA record for most three-point field goals in a game(21), ranked second nationally with an 8.4 three-point field goal per game average, andset a school record shooting 76.3 percent from the free throw line.
Lowery Dawkins was a standout player at Ohio State from 1985-89 whereshe helped lead the Buckeyes to four NCAA Tournament appearances. During hersenior year she was named Kodak and Street & Smith All-American, and the Big TenPlayer of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. She was inducted into Ohio State's Hall ofFame in 2002.
Lowry Dawkins graduated from Ohio State with a degree in economics. She spenta year abroad playing for Italmeco Bari Club in Bari, Italy. Lowry Dawkins and herhusband, Tony, a college basketball official, were married in the summer of 2004.
She replaces Susan Montgomery who resigned her position to spend more timewith her family.