craig roden headshot 20-21

Craig Roden

Craig Roden enters his eighth season as head coach of the Delta State University women's basketball program. Roden came to DSU from the University of West Alabama, and the veteran has coached at every level of collegiate basketball, including the last 20 years in the Gulf South Conference at the University of West Georgia, where he spent 14 seasons, four at UWA and last season at DSU.

The Guntersville, Ala., native sports a career 604-511 record, including a 389-327 mark in GSC play. His GSC victories are the second-highest total of any coach in league history, trailing only legendary former Lady Statesman head coach Lloyd Clark’s 495.

The 2019-20 campaign proved the veteran coach had the Lady Statesmen program on the path back national prominence. Delta State posted a 23-7 overall record and a 14-6 GSC mark while claiming a runner-up finish the GSC Tournament finals. The Lady Statesmen earned an at large bid to face Eckerd College in the NCAA DII South Region Tournament in Cleveland, Tenn., before the NCAA canceled the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senior Quantesha Patterson earned First-Team All-GSC, D2CCA First-Team All-Region, D2CAA Third-Team, and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American honors. The Maben, Miss., native was also named a C-Spire Gillom Trophy Finalist and was also named GSC Player of the Week five times.  Patterson posted 20 double-doubles (2nd GSC/7th NCAA) and grabbed 402 rebounds (2nd GSC/4th NCAA) along with 5.9 offensive rebounds per game (1st GSC/2nd NCAA) and a 65.4 shooting percent (1st GSC/3rd NCAA). Patterson was also fourth in the GSC in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game, and the conference's leading rebounder at 13.4 rebounds per game. Patterson collected 176 offensive rebounds which were the most since Caroline Boclair's 113 offensive boards in 1998-1999.

Junior Zyaire Ewing earned WBCA Honorable Mention All-American honors, tossing in 13.2 points per game and grabbing 10.5 rebounds per contest. The Natchez, Miss., native ranked 3rd in the GSC in defensive rebounds per game (7.6/20th NCAA), fourth in rebounds per game (10.5/19th NCAA), and total rebounds (315/ 19th NCAA). Ewing also ranked third in the GSC in blocked shots per game (1.7) and second in total blocked shots (49/43rd NCAA).

Roden's rebuilding of the Lady Statesmen program turned the corner in 2018-19 as the Lady Statesmen finished 18-10 overall and fourth in the GSC regular season at 13-7. Patterson and Nia Johnson were selected to the All-GSC Second-Team while five of the 10 Lady Statesmen achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher.

Roden helped lead the Lady Statesmen to a 12-15 finish in 2017-18, including reaching the conference tournament for the 12th consecutive season. Roden's Delta State team was second in the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 56.5 points per game. The Lady Statesmen ranked 25th nationally in that category, and help opponents to 48 points or less on four different occasions. 

Roden led the Lady Statesmen to the program's 16th GSC title in 2015-2016. The 2015-2016 Lady Statesmen went 22-7, including a 16-6 mark in GSC play and a 12-2 record at home. Delta State led the GSC and led the NCAA in scoring defense in allowing 50.3 points per game. The Lady Statesmen were also ranked 15th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.5%. 

Under Roden's tutelage, Chelsey Rhodes was named DSCCA South Region Player of the Year and was selected First-Team D2CCA All-South Region last season. Rhodes was also a WBCA All-American in her senior season, as well as being named the GSC Player of the Year and the GSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Alondrea Rush was also named to the GSC All-Tournament team. 

In his first season with the Lady Statesmen, Roden led Delta State to a 19-10 overall record and a 15-7 mark in GSC play while battling injuries to key players all season. DSU marched to the GSC Championship game before falling to Union University.

A trio of Lady Statesmen were named to the All-GSC team, including Chelsey Rhodes (1st), Seneca Walton (1st) and Rhandi Ball (2nd). Rodes and Walton were also named to the Daktronics All-South Region Second Team.
 
Roden’s 19 seasons as a head coach in the GSC have led to tremendous individual success on the court for his players, as seven have been named All-American and 21 selected to all-conference honors. He has also coached four GSC Players of the Year, two NCAA Division II South Region Players of the Year and a finalist for Daktronics DII National Player of the Year.
 
Academic success has also followed Roden wherever he has coached, graduating 19 student-athletes during his tenure at UWA.  While at West Georgia, 28 student-athletes earned their degrees, including 17 first-time college graduates in their family.   
 
Roden comes to DSU from his second tenure at West Alabama, helping return the Lady Tigers to ranks of yearly contenders, playing for the league title in two of the last three seasons. In his first season back at his alma mater, Roden led UWA to an 18-9 record, a nine win improvement from the previous season. 
 
The Lady Tigers also earned postseason accolades with three players being named to the All-GSC Team, headlined by Player of the Year Mystee Dale. Latashia Greer and LaShandra McCoy also nabbed all-conference honors. Dale captured All-American honors from the Division II Bulletin, Daktronics and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, while Greer was named to the Division II Bulletin all-America list.
 
The 2012 Lady Tigers, hampered by injuries throughout the season, put together a memorable run to the GSC championship, capped by back-to-back victories over nationally ranked Delta State (63-54) and Alabama-Huntsville, 86-74, in the title game.  The GSC title gave UWA just its third NCAA Tournament berth in the program’s history.
 
Following the tournament run, Nikkia Jordan was named Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by all-conference selections Brittany Weathers and Daniele Cole.
 
In 2013, UWA was again hit injuries during the regular season before making a run in the league’s postseason dance. The Lady Tigers defeated West Georgia and North Alabama before falling the championship game to Alabama-Huntsville.  Jordan and Weathers repeated as all-conference selections following their senior seasons. 
 
Prior to his stint as head coach at West Alabama, Roden served as an assistant coach at UWA from 1978-1980 and was head coach from 1984-1987.

Roden returned to the GSC in 1996 at West Georgia, serving as head coach of the Wolves for 14 years. In his last three seasons at UWG, the Wolves posted a 56-29 record. The 2007-08 season was Roden’s best in Carrollton, with the Wolves going 25-5, the school’s best record since the early 1990s, winning the GSC East Division title and advancing to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.
 
Roden’s list of coaching accolades is also impressive. The Atlanta Tipoff Club named him Georgia’s Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year following the 2007-08 season. The honor covered every women’s program in the state, regardless of size or classification.  In 2009, Roden was named the WBCA South Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the WBCA’s National Coach of the Year. He also captured three GSC East Division Coach of the Year honors in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
 
Prior to Roden’s return to NCAA Division II, the Guntersville, Alabama native made four stops ranging from junior college to Division I. He served as head coach at Crowder Community College, Snead State Community College (1980-84), the University of Texas at El Paso (1987-90), and Connors State College (1990-92).
 
Roden is a 1978 graduate of UWA, receiving a bachelor’s degree in physical education, with a minor in history.  He completed his master’s in health, physical education and recreation from UWA in 1980. 

He is married to the former Debra Griffin of Birmingham, Alabama. The Rodens are the parents of three adult children; Tyler, is the Head of Surveying for CTS Excavating in Scottsboro, Ala., Andrew, who is a patrolman working for the Alabama State Troopers, and daughter Maggi, who is the Branch Manager for Century Bank in Pascagoula, Miss. Craig and Debra are also the proud grandparents of Emily Grace Nations, Press Roden, and Josie Love Roden.