USCB Sports Information
The USC Beaufort women’s basketball team made a big splash by hiring a Boilermaker legend in Sharon Versyp, who is Purdue’s all-time winningest head coach.
Versyp led Purdue to four Big Ten Tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances in 15 years.
“Coach Versyp’s experience, passion for the development of student-athletes, and vision for the program stood out amongst the tremendous response to our women’s basketball search,” Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator and Women’s Basketball Search Committee Chair Genia Montford said in a news release.
“There is no doubt there are great days ahead for women’s basketball at USCB under Coach Versyp’s direction – not only on the court, but also in the classroom and the community. We are looking forward to Coach Versyp’s leadership in building a program our USCB community, the Lowcountry, and the Sand Shark family can be proud to call ours.”
Coming out of retirement (retired from Purdue on Sept. 16, 2021), Versyp is the winningest coach in program history, with 301 victories on the Boilermakers sidelines, good for 20 per year, and her 20-year career record as a head coach stands at 418-257. She added the Boilermakers’ career Big Ten victories record to her list of accolades in 2018-19, collecting 136 at Purdue, and her 149 career Big Ten wins is fifth-most in conference history.
“I am extremely honored to lead the first women’s basketball program and to build it on a solid foundation at USCB,” said Versyp. “I am also looking forward to partnering with the community of Beaufort and embracing their strong support.”
“A heartfelt thank you to the Chancellor Dr Al M. Panu, Athletic Director Quin Monahan, the women’s basketball search committee and the Sand Shark family for this amazing opportunity! Our vision, coupled with positive energy and perseverance, is certain to produce leaders both on the court and in the classroom, serving as ambassadors of the university and community.”
Versyp was the head coach at Indiana prior to Purdue, where she led her team to a 19-14 season, 9-7 in the Big Ten and the quarterfinals of the postseason WNIT. The nine-game improvement was the second largest turn-around in school history for a first-year head coach. While at Indiana, Versyp guided senior Cindi Valentin to first team All-Big Ten honors and newcomer Whitney Thomas to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Prior to her stint with the Hoosiers, Versyp was the head coach at Maine for five seasons where she amassed a 98-51 record, including a 67-19 America East Conference record. Versyp’s teams won three-straight America East regular season championships (2003, 2004, 2005) and in 2004 also won the America East Tournament title earning an NCAA Tournament berth. Versyp was twice voted America East Coach of the Year (2003 and 2005). Her teams achieved season records of 25-6 in 2002-03 and 25-7 in 2003-04, which were the first back-to-back 25-win campaigns in school history.
After graduating from Purdue, Versyp became a head coach in the high school ranks at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis from 1989-93. There she took a 0-18 team to a sectional runner-up finish in just two seasons. She also served as the head coach at Benton Central High School in Oxford, Ind., from 1993 to 1996.
