Marshall board approves Fulks as new women's basketball coach
Apr. 12—Marshall lost a national championship winner as its women's basketball coach at the beginning of the week.
By the end of the week, the university replaced her with another.
Juli Fulks, who led Transylvania to the NCAA Division III national championship in 2023, will be the Thundering Herd's next coach. The Marshall Board of Governors approved the hiring Friday afternoon.
"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve Marshall University as the Head Women's Basketball Coach," Fulks said in a release. "I would like to thank President Smith, Christian Spears and their entire leadership team for entrusting me and our future staff in leading the program. We will take immense pride in serving our athletes and mentoring their personal growth as students, leaders and future professionals. Go Herd!"
Fulks takes over for Kim Caldwell, who on Sunday left Marshall after one season to become the new head coach at Tennessee. Caldwell, who coached Glenville State to the 2022 Division II national championship, led the Herd to a program-best 26 wins and the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships. Marshall played in its first NCAA Tournament since 1987.
She was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, the Spalding Rookie Coach of the Year and on Thursday was announced as the Furfari Award winner as the top college coach in West Virginia.
Fulks brings that same championship background to Huntington. Under her guidance, Transylvania won the DIII national title in 2023, finishing the season 33-0.
The previous season, the Pioneers went 27-1 after losing in the Elite Eight.
Last month, they suffered their only loss of the season in the Final Four, snapping a 64-game winning streak, the third-longest ever in Division III. Over a three-year span, the Pioneers were a combined 91-2.
Fulks was named the 2024 WBCA Division III Coach of the Year. In 10 seasons at Transyvania she was 242-39 (.861). She had spent the previous 10 seasons as the head coach at Lewis & Clark College, and Transylvania's win over Wisconsin-Whitewater in the Elite Eight last month was the 400th of her career.
One of the key parts of the Pioneers' run under Fulks was Laken Ball, a 2019 Woodrow Wilson graduate. At Marshall, Fulks will be coaching another Woodrow alumna, 2022 graduate Olivia Ziolkowski.
