Coach Jenny Finora To Lead Lady Cobras in Basketball

Hate to be taking the easy way out on Coker Experience blog lately but sharing Christian's stories seems to be effective:

Coker Hires Finora to Lead Women's Basketball
by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
5/5/2010
Read this article on the web at http://cokercobras.com/article.asp?articleID=2097.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Coker College is pleased to announce the hiring of Jenny Finora as the new Head Women's Basketball Coach. Finora will take the reins for the Lady Cobras after the retirement of Carol Meegan.
A native of North Vernon, Indiana, Finora comes to Coker after a year long stint as a professional player and coach in Iceland. Finora played for the KR Basketball Club, while also coaching three of the KR Basketball Club's junior teams. As a player, she was a Iceland Express All-Star team selection and a member of the Powerade Cup Champions team and the Champion of Champions Cup team. As a coach in Iceland she was in charge of three junior teams, including organizing and planning practice and tournament schedules for all three teams, as well as coaching three players to become All-Star team selections.
"Jenny is a rising star in the world of women's basketball," said Coker President Dr. Robert Wyatt. "We are very fortunate to have her joining our team, with her enthusiasm and passion for coaching; we feel she will be a great asset to Coker."
Prior to her time in Iceland, Finora served as the assistant coach and interim head coach at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and she has also has experience coaching at the high school level, as well as serving as an instructor at various camps and clinics throughout the country. She earned her bachelor's degree and her master's degree from the University of Kentucky, earning a B.A. in Health Communication in 2005 and a M.S. in Kinesiology and Health Promotion in 2007. A four year member of the Wildcats women's basketball team, Jenny was a team captain, helping lead her team to the third round of the NIT in 2007 and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2006. She holds the record for free throw shooting percentage (86.0), while ranking third all-time in three pointers (162) in her career at UK.
"I am very excited and honored to be the next head women's basketball coach and join the Coker College family," said Finora. "The staff and faculty are amazing, as well as the campus. This is a very exciting time for Coker women's basketball."
Finora inherits a Lady Cobras basketball team that finished the 200 9-10 season with a record of 3-24 overall and 2-20 in Conference Carolinas play, placing them 11th in the conference standings. She will have some big shoes to fill with five seniors graduating, including Coker's All-Time leading scorer Henna Koponen.
"With the community's support we will bring this team back to the top," added Finora. "The potential is limitless. I am looking forward to preparing the athletes to excel not only in the classroom and on the court but, also developing them as successful young women after college."
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Coker College Announces New Athletic Director

News Release from Coker College about 9:45, May 3rd

Coker College Names Griffin Director of Athletics
by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
5/3/2010
Read this article on the web at http://cokercobras.com/article.asp?articleID=2096.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Coker College president Dr. Robert Wyatt announced today that following a national search, Lynn Griffin has been selected to lead the Coker College Athletic Department as the College's Director of Athletics. Griffin come s to Coker after spending the past seven years at the University of Indianapolis serving as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Compliance Coordinator and Senior Woman Administrator.
The 2008 National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Administrator of the Year, Griffin has more than 12 years collegiate administrative experience, including the direct oversight of 11 sports at Indianapolis, with nine of those teams winning Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championships, or advancing to the NCAA post season during her time.
Dr. Wyatt expressed his confidence that Griffin is an exceptional person to lead Coker athletics to great things. "We are thrilled to have Lynn join the Coker family. I am very excited by her commitment to helping us build an athletic program of which we can all be proud and one that exemplifies the model embodied by the NCAA Division II "Life in the Balance" platform of preparing student-athletes for th eir careers after college."
Griffin is also a member of two NCAA (women's basketball and swimming and diving), as well as being an active member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the NACWAA. She was also a member of the Indianapolis faculty; serving as an instructor in the Sports Management department.
"Coker College is extremely fortunate to name Lynn Griffin as their next Director of Athletics," said Dr. Sue Willey Director of Athletics at Indianapolis. "She has phenomenal qualifications and is one of the hardest working people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. It has been a privilege to work with her over the past seven years. There is absolutely no doubt that Lynn's leadership abilities will take Coker Athletics to new heights. This is a sad day for Greyhound Athletics but we are all excited for Lynn's new position and wish her the very best."
Prior to her time at Indy, Griffin had been the Associat e Director of Athletics, Compliance Coordinator, Senior Women's Administrator, Head Women's Basketball Coach, and Sport Studies Instructor at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C. Before St. Andrews, Griffin was the head women's basketball coach and physical education instructor at the University of South Dakota and while also serving as assistant women's basketball coach and P.E. instructor at UNC-Ashville.
"I am honored to be part of the Coker Family as the new director of athletics," said Griffin. "From the first moment I arrived in Hartsville I felt there were great things happening at Coker. Not only great things, but great people with an energy and love for the school. Dr. Wyatt's vision for Coker is exciting and something that I knew I wanted to be a part of. I am blessed to be embraced by so many at Coker during this process. The hospitality and excitement that each person has shown me has been amazing. I look forward to working with Dr. Wyat t and the Hartsville community as we build upon the past successes of the athletics department and the institution, as we work together to continue to make Coker an institution that we are all proud of."
A native of Hendersonville, N.C., Griffin began her career as an assistant women's basketball coach and exercise and sports science instructor at Tarleton State University in Texas, where she earned a master's degree in exercise and sports studies.
In college she was a two sport athlete, competing in women's basketball and softball at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke from 1986-90.
As athletic director at Coker she will be responsible for the oversight of a NCAA Division II athletic department with 13 intercollegiate teams competing in Conference Carolinas. Her responsibilities will also include athletic department planning, program development and assessment, budget and resource management, supervision of compliance with NCAA and Conference Carolin as rules and regulations, coaching and support staff appointments, professional development, outreach to the local and regional community, fundraising, and recruitment and retention of student athletes.
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Pre Graduation Honors Winners

Coker College annually has a small dinner to honor the graduation speaker and the winners of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award. That dinner was held April 30 honoring Emerson Gower, who was being conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters award by Coker College for his long career of community service. It also honored Clayton Richardson, who was named the Community Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award winner for his untiring efforts to make Hartsville, S. C. one of the best communities to live in -- for EVERYONE. Robert O'Hara, who is heading to Law School in the Fall, was also honored as the campus winner of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award. Robert is also known as a "Mr. Coker" for his involvement across campus and his active engagement in the classroom.

Photo caption: Dr. Patricia Lincoln, Coker Provost, served as the emcee of the Pre Graduation dinner that was held at the Drengalen House on the Coker College campus.

Lois Gibson, who retired from the Coker faculty last year, relayed information that Terrance Hayes, a former Coker student, had his new book of poetry reviewed in the NEW YORK TIMES this past Sunday. The new book is called LIGHTHEAD, By Terrance Hayes,Penguin Poets. Paper, $18. Earlier this year Professor Hayes, who teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, was named the Poet Laureate of Coker College.

The end of another academic semester

Parking can sometimes be a problem around the Coker College campus -- guess like all colleges. But, this week, the parking situation has begun to ease as students are starting their summer vacations. This is the end of another semester. I have one set of grades to post with the Registrar and my semester is over. I think today is last day of exams in the day program and pretty soon the campus will be really quiet.

One big day left of the academic year -- this Saturday. Graduation at Coker is out of doors in front of our iconic Davidson Hall. It is always a great event. Emerson Gower, former vice president with Progress Energy and a member of the Coker College Board of Trustees will be the speaker for graduation. A friend of mine and an amazing contributor to the Hartsville community, Clayton Richardson is being honored as the community Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award winner. The campus winner is Robert O'Hara, who defines the engaged Coker College student. Robert is on his way to law school.

Senior Seminar ends with lunch at Miriams

This was, I think, my 10thyear teaching the Coker Communication Capstone Course that we call the Communication Senior Seminar. This seminar is mix of subject areas with the capstone being a research project by the students on some keen interest they have in a facet of the wide world of communication. We finished the 2010 course on April 23 with a lunch at Miriam's Restaurant that is located in Griggs Grocery outside of Hartsville. The first seminar class and I went to Griggs for the end of semester lunch and it became a tradition. We are fortunate that we are getting a new professor to add to our department with the next academic year. We are going to give him the opportunity to teach this Capstone Course and I can say, it is an experience I will miss but I am certain he is going to enjoy.

I believe another post described the different projects the students accomplished this semester but just in case:

Kimberly Wilson, a communication minor and business major, researched the question of narcissism and its relationship to television reality shows. Lance Player researched television habits of college students along with the question of how television might impact college students. Ricardo Smith researched the question of who makes the better celebrity spokesperson -- an athlete or a musician. Audrey Player looked at the influence of television on the question of teenage pregnancy. Rachel Croyle wanted to determine if the perception of marriage within young women has been affected by television portrayals of men-women relationships in regard to marriage. Adam Johnson looked into the question of social and academic worlds of college video gamers. Kate McElveen studied shopping habits of Coker students to see if there are any marketing communication tactics that could change that behavior in regard to shopping in downtown Hartsville. Whitley Echols studied the attitudes of college students toward texting to determine if they knew of the dangers involved. Sheila Braddock is doing our final project,which is investigating gender roles in society.

Late Night Breakfast a Coker Tradition - 2010

Steve Terry, vice president, gives a quick overview of the Late Night Breakfast in this video clip.


The students seemed to enjoy the break from studying for exams on April 21 as they enjoyed the Late Night Breakfast that has been a tradition at Coker College for years. Staff and faculty help do the cooking and the serving at the gracious hospitality of the Aramark staff, who have their kitchen invaded by these amateurs. This was the last Late Nigh Breakfast for a great many Coker College seniors but it was also the last one for Ebi Zahabi, ARAmark Manager of the Coker operations. By the time of the next breakfast he will be heading up operations on at dining halls on the James Madison University campus. The photos show just a snapshot of the evening.