ETSU women’s basketball head coach Brenda Mock Brown announced on June 17, 2024 the hiring of Symone Denham as an assistant coach to the Buccaneers’ coaching staff. Denham comes to Johnson City after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Bradley.
“We are excited to round out our staff with the addition of Coach Symone Denham,” said Coach Mock. “She is a dynamic, welcoming individual with the ability to connect with people and will be very successful in helping our staff recruit and retain future Buccaneers to ETSU. She was a proven leader and winner as a player at Wright State and approaches coaching with that same competitive mindset. She values relationships, embodies professionalism, and cares for the student-athletes she coaches on a wholistic level. I am excited to get to work with this very fresh and talented group of players and coaches this summer!”
Denham is a three-time honoree in the WBCA Thirty Under 30 program, which was created to recognize 30 up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches age 30 and under at all levels of the game. Denham played collegiately at Wright State (2012-16) and was a member of a coaching staff at New Mexico that led the Lobos to a 105-50 (.677) combined record and four appearances in the WNIT during her five seasons (2017-22).
“I am beyond excited to join Coach Mock and the staff here at ETSU,” Denham said. “She is a proven champion and an outstanding person. I’m thankful to be able to learn and grow under her leadership and chase a SoCon Championship!”
During her time with the Lobos, Denham worked with the guards and helped UNM to the 2020-21 Mountain West Conference regular-season title. Denham had her hands on one of the most prolific offenses in the country during her time in Albuquerque. After ranking ninth nationally in scoring in 2020-21 at 81.2 points per game, the 2021-22 Lobos ranked 14th nationally by averaging 76.6 ppg. UNM also ranked third nationally by pouring in a program-record 346 3-point field goals this past season, while knocking down their long-range attempts at 35.1 percent (30th). UNM scored at least 80 points 24 times the last two seasons, topped by a 120-point effort against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on December 17, 2020.
As a student-athlete at Wright State, Denham was part of the winningest team in program history and helped the Raiders to the 2014 Horizon League championship. After earning a spot on the 2015 Horizon League All-Tournament squad, Dehham served as team captain during her senior year in 2015-16, while also representing the women’s basketball squad on Wright State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
Denham graduated from Wright State in 2016 with her bachelor’s degree in business finance and economics. She began her coaching career at Lourdes University as a graduate assistant while earning her MBA in December 2017. Denham joined the New Mexico staff as video coordinator in 2017 and was promoted to assistant coach in 2018. She doubled as assistant coach and director of basketball operations during the 2019-20 campaign.
