Following a historic run with Presbyterian College, Alaura Sharp was announced as the new head coach of the Mountaineers Friday.
Sharp spent her previous six seasons with Presbyterian, who she led to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and victory last month. The team defeated Sacred Heart in their First Four matchup before falling to an undefeated powerhouse in South Carolina.
Presbyterian led the Big South in scoring defense last season with Sharp at the helm. If her coaching style is anything like it was, look for the Mountaineers to be tenacious defenders in the 2024-25 season.
“I’m honored to be named the head women’s basketball coach at App State,” Sharp said. “It is exciting to join an athletic department that has so much momentum and success.”
Sharp will step in for Angel Elderkin, who resigned following this season’s Sun Belt Tournament. Elderkin spent nine seasons with the Mountaineers, tallying the second-most wins in program history with 134 and guiding the Black and Gold to at least one Sun Belt Tournament victory in three of the last four seasons.
Sharp will be App State’s ninth ever head coach, and their second since joining the Sun Belt.
Prior to arriving at Presbyterian, Sharp spent her 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons as assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at Louisiana Tech. She helped the team make WNIT appearances in both seasons, following a six-year postseason drought.
Before Louisiana Tech, Sharp spent her 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons as an associate head coach at Southern Mississippi, where she made two more trips to the WNIT, one of which being a quarterfinals run.
Sharp spent 2009-13 as the head coach at Garden Community College in Garden City, Kansas. She led the team to their best record in program history at 29-4 in the 2012-13 season.
Sharp first got involved with college basketball as a player at Fort Scott Community College where she averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds. She finished her playing career at Southwest Minnesota State, where she led her team in steals at 3.5 per game.
App State will hold a press conference April 12 at 12:15 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Mark E. Ricks Athletic Complex to formally introduce Sharp.