North Carolina A&T State University Women's Basketball

Tarrell Robinson was named the sixth head coach in the program's history on May 2, 2012. He is one of the most impactful figures in the history of North Carolina A&T Athletics. Robinson played four seasons on the men’s basketball team (1997-01), served as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team, played a role for the women’s basketball program as an assistant coach and an associate head coach before becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach, winning numerous championships, and reaching numerous postseasons along the way.  In the more than 15 years he has been associated with the women’s basketball program, the Aggies have produced seven Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles, including four regular-season championships and three tournament titles, two MEAC rookies of the year (Eboni Ross, T’Wuana Cook) and a MEAC player of the year (Brittanie Taylor-James). Also, in that same time frame, the Aggies have had 18 different players earn 29 all-conference recognitions, nine different players earn multiple all-conference honors, including three players becoming three-time all-conference selections, and eight players earning all-rookie honors.  As the Aggies head coach, the Aggies have had four first-team all-conference selections. In addition, five different players have earned eight second-team all-conference accolades, including Aprill McRae earning three second-team honors and Cinia McCray earning two. Robinson has also had nine third-team selections, six all-rookie recognitions and two all-defensive team honors.  Robinson’s three MEAC tournament titles came in 2016, 2018, and 2021, and his four MEAC regular-season titles came in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021. As the Aggies head coach, A&T has made six postseason appearances – three NCAA tournaments (2016, 2018, 2021) and three WNITs (2013, 2014, 2019). In addition, Robinson has five 20-win seasons (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18, 2018-19), and his teams have finished lower than fourth place only four times during his tenure. On Nov. 22, 2022, the Aggies defeated S.C. State 68-49 in Orangeburg, S.C., to earn his 192nd win as the Aggies head coach. The win made him the program’s all-time winningest coach, passing Tim Abney (1986-99) for the record. Nearly two months later, on Jan. 13, Robinson won his 200th career game with a 67-63 win over Northeastern at Corbett Sports Center. In capturing the win, Robinson became only the third A&T basketball coach – men or women – to earn 200 wins at A&T, joining legendary figures Cal Irvin and Don Corbett. Robinson has a 207-119 (.635) career record, a 107-32 (.770) mark at Corbett, and a 132-42 (.759) against conference opponents heading into the 2023-24 season. He is the only basketball coach in school history (men or women) to open their respective N.C. A&T tenure with three consecutive 20-win seasons. Robinson’s teams have also been stellar in the classroom. In 2015, it was announced the Aggies had a perfect single-year APR score of 1000. Five players on Robinson’s 2015-16 had undergraduate degrees. Four of those players pursued master’s degrees. Center Alexus Lessears was named N.C. A&T’s 2018 academic athlete of the year after posting a 4.0 for the 2017-18 school year. In 2021-22, Sean Kelly Darks earned a spot on the Big South’s All-Academic team. The A&T women’s basketball program has an APR multi-year score of 955.   Defense and sharing the basketball have also been a staple of Robinson’s program. The Aggies have finished first twice in scoring defense and have finished no lower than fourth only once in Robinson’s six seasons. Opponents are only averaging 56.9 points per game against A&T while being defeated by an average scoring margin of 5.6 points since Robinson became the head coach. The Aggies have not finished lower than third in the conference in assists per game since the 2013-14 season, including leading the conference in 2015-16. The program has also made some of its most significant historic achievements under Robinson. He helped the program transition from the MEAC to the Big South before the Aggies became official Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) members before the 2022-23 season started. During the 2013-14 season, the Aggies got off to the best start in school history by going 7-1 as they finished the year 24-7. Also that season, the Aggies made history by becoming the first historically black college or university to win consecutive games in the preseason WNIT. Robinson was also selected to participate in The Center for Coaching Excellence, presented by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Aggies have also been nationally ranked in the mid-major collegeinsider.com poll on four occasions during Robinson’s tenure.  Robinson returned to A&T after spending three years as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and associate head coach at Virginia Commonwealth under head coach Beth Cunningham. Before his stint at VCU, Robinson spent four successful seasons at N.C. A&T under legendary head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. Robinson made a name for himself as a talented recruiter, having brought in highly-touted players to A&T and helping to lead the Aggies to consecutive MEAC regular-season championships starting in 2007. Robinson coached four seasons under Bibbs. After a 9-19 season in 2005-06, Robinson assisted Bibbs in signing what turned out to be some of the best players in school history, starting with Fayetteville, N.C., native Ta’Wuana Cook. Cook became the program’s first MEAC Rookie of the Year, its second all-time leading scorer and its all-time leader in assists. He was also instrumental in signing two-time MEAC all-tournament performer Lamona Smalley and 2009 MEAC player of the year Brittanie Taylor-James. When Jaleesa Sams, ranked as high as No. 31 nationally by Scouts.com, signed to play at A&T in 2007, the women’s basketball team had its most highly-touted recruit in history. From 2007-09, Robinson and his recruits helped the Aggies compile a 51-15 record and their first MEAC tournament championship since 1994 when they took the title in 2009. The MEAC championship win earned the Aggies a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 as they were awarded a 14th seed, the highest seed for an HBCU team at the time. Cook, Sams, Taylor-James and JaQuayla Berry are all 1,000-point career scorers and all-conference performers.   After leaving A&T for VCU, Robinson continued to excel as a recruiter. After serving as the program's recruiting coordinator, he was promoted to associate head coach in May 2011 at VCU. He helped the Rams make three-consecutive postseason appearances from 2009-12. The Rams also made it to the third round of the WNIT in 2010 and 2012. He helped land back-to-back classes that ranked among the best in the CAA, including players who ranked among the Top 30 in their respective positions. His 2011-12 class included the Ram’s most highly-recruited player in center Aprill McRae, who was named the 22nd-best post player in the nation by ESPN. McRae would go on to transfer to A&T. In 2011, Robinson was recognized as one of the nation’s top 25 Mid-Major women’s basketball assistants by collegeinsider.com. Robinson was also invited to the prestigious Nike Villa 7 Consortium in 2011 and 2012. The Nike Villa 7 Consortium partners with the VCU Center for Sports Leadership and brings together the country’s elite assistant basketball coaches to help prepare the next generation of college basketball leaders. Before his successful stints at A&T and VCU, Robinson spent two seasons as a graduate assistant for the A&T men’s basketball program under head coach Curtis Hunter. He worked two seasons as the assistant boys basketball coach at High Point Andrews High School. Robinson first made his mark at A&T as a student-athlete. He played on the men’s basketball team from 1997-2001. He scored 934 career points, grabbed more than 700 rebounds and blocked 35 shots. He led the Aggies in rebounding his junior season. Robinson attended E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville, N.C., where he was an Honorable Mention McDonald’s All-American and lettered for three years. Robinson earned his B.A. degree in psychology in 2001 from N.C. A&T and was enrolled in the graduate program at N.C. A&T, where he was a candidate for a master’s degree in Human Performance and Leisure Studies. Robinson and his wife, Kelli, have three children, Jordan, Jada and Lauren.  

Shavon Earp became an assistant coach for the North Carolina A&T women's basketball program in 2012. On April 12, 2016, head coach Tarrell Robinson promoted Earp to associate head coach. Since Earp became the associate head coach, the Aggies have won three Mid-Eastern Athletic Championship tournament titles and four MEAC regular-season championships.  During the COVID shortened 2020-21 season, the Aggies went 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the MEAC, winning the conference tournament to advance to play the North Carolina State Wolfpack in an NCAA first-round tournament game in San Antonio, Texas. The Aggies' 2017-18 regular-season title came with a 15-1 mark in the league. A year later, the Aggies went undefeated in the MEAC, 16-0, to capture their second consecutive MEAC regular season crown.  Starting in February 2020, Earp helped the program transition from the MEAC to the Big South. Then, in 2022, Earp assisted the program in moving from the Big South to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).  Earp is responsible for working with the Aggies wings and guards. The Aggies have strived with Earp in that role. During the 2022-23 season, Earp helped Jordyn Dorsey transform from a combo guard to the Aggies primary ballhandler, and she coached Presbyterian College transfer Maleia Bracone to a third-team All-CAA and All-CAA defensive team performer. Georgia Tech transfer Chanin Scott earned second-team All-Big South in 2022 and first-team All-MEAC in 2021. In addition, Dorsey earned a spot on the Big South's All-Freshman team in 2021.  Before the 2019-20 season, Alabama transfer wing C'coriea "CC" Foy earned MEAC preseason player of the year after earning first-team All-MEAC honors the previous season. Seton Hall transfer Deja Winters hit 113 3-pointers in two seasons as an Aggie, including a clutch 3-pointer to lead the Aggies to the 2021 MEAC tournament championship. Kala Green was the 2018 MEAC tournament Most Outstanding Player and followed up her performance with 21 points on five 3-pointers against defending national champion South Carolina in the NCAA tournament.  Dana Brown was also an all-tournament performer at the 2016 MEAC tournament. Transfer guard Debbie Smith earned second-team All-MEAC honors in 2014-15, and Dana Brown developed into the Aggies second-leading scorer and an All-MEAC second-team selection in 2015-16. Christina Carter led the MEAC in assists during the 2013-14 season (5.1 per game), and her 157 assists that season was the second-highest single-season total in school history. Carter ended her career second on the Aggies all-time career assist list. Since Earp joined the staff, the Aggies have also had an outstanding assist-to-turnover ratio. A&T has finished below fourth in its conference only twice in assist-to-turnover ratio since 2014, including leading the conference in the statistical category twice.  Earp joined A&T after spending two seasons as the assistant women's basketball coach at William & Mary. With the Tribe, she was responsible for developing the guard and perimeter players, which resulted in an All-CAA player in Taysha Pye. Earp also assisted with recruiting, scouting, developing game plans, organizing community service activities and administering individual and group workout sessions. Two years before joining William & Mary's staff, Earp spent two years as an assistant girls' basketball coach at Hampton High School in Hampton, Va. She also served as the assistant coach for the heralded Boo Williams 16-and-under Elite AAU Team during that span. Earp assisted in developing players and supervising the team during competition and tournament travel. As a graduate student at Radford University, Earp served as a graduate assistant for the women's basketball program. Before she entered coaching, Earp was a talented student-athlete. Earp was named the 2001-02 Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia and was an honorable mention All-American for Hampton High. In addition, she was named first-team all-state twice in Virginia and led the Crabbers to the 2000-01 state championship. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, competing in 28 games for the Panthers as a freshman, and earned a spot on the Big East's All-Academic team. Then, she transferred to Radford and completed her career with 834 points, 267 rebounds, and 108 assists in 81 games for the Highlanders.   Earp graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's in corporate and professional communication. She is also a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Tarrell Robinson announced the hiring of Megan Sawatzky as his program’s director of basketball operations on Sept. 23, 2021.  Sawatzky comes to N.C. A&T from the University of California Berkeley, where she served as the coordinator of operations for women’s basketball starting in 2019. She assisted with planning team travel and created and updated the team and head coach’s calendar during her time at Cal Berkeley.  Sawatzky served as the athletics facility coordinator and director of men’s basketball operations for St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., for two years (2017-19) before arriving at Cal Berkeley.  She oversaw athletic facility rentals as well as coordinating men's basketball team travel. From 2016-21, assisted USA Basketball at events such as U16-19 trials, Men's final four mini camp, senior national team training camp and exhibition games. Her career started at Loyola University of Chicago. She was a part of the arena operations staff (2013-16) before becoming a women’s basketball manager (2015-16).  Sawatzky is a 2016 graduate of Loyola, receiving a sports management B.A.A. and an international B.B.A.