MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann has hired Terry Fowler as head coach of the Lady Jaguars women’s basketball program.
Fowler comes to South Alabama after seven seasons as head coach at the University of North Alabama, where he led the Lions to two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in the last three years.
Success at North Alabama
Fowler guided North Alabama to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2011 and 2013, winning at least 20 games in each of those seasons. In 2011, the Lions went 12-0 in conference play and finished 21-7, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Fowler was named Gulf South Conference East Division Coach of the Year that season.
When Fowler arrived at North Alabama, he took over a program that had won 11 games combined over the previous two seasons. In his first season, the Lions went 14-14 and earned their first conference tournament berth since 2003. North Alabama posted winning records in each of his last five seasons.
Fowler’s overall record at North Alabama is 115-87, a .569 winning percentage, including a 57-32 mark in conference play.
Return to Mobile
The hire marks a return to Mobile for Fowler, who has previously coached at both Spring Hill College and South Alabama.
He was an assistant coach on the Lady Jaguars’ staff during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
At Spring Hill, Fowler was an assistant from 1993 to 1998 before being promoted to head coach ahead of the 1998-99 season. That year, he led the Badgers to a 23-11 record, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships, and the program’s first NAIA Tournament appearance, and he was named the conference’s coach of the year.
Fowler returned to Spring Hill as head coach in 2002 and led the Badgers to their first NAIA national ranking and to the semifinals of the GCAC Tournament twice.
Joining a Sun Belt Program
Fowler takes over a South Alabama women’s basketball program that competes in the Sun Belt Conference and plays its home games at the Mitchell Center.
