Randolph-Macon College head coach Carroll LaHaye became the 21st coach in Division III Women’s Basketball history to record 400 wins as her Yellow Jackets upended the WildCats of
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, 63-33, Saturday, February 10 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
LaHaye has many reasons to smile. She’s coached dozens of exceptional female athletes and led her teams to numerous Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments. She has been named Coach of the Year by many local, state and regional organizations, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper Virginia state Coach of the Year in 2003. In 2005, she was recognized for her dedication as an R-MC faculty member with the Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Professor Award.
“I have been fortunate and blessed that the outstanding student-athletes and assistant coaches that have come through the Randolph-Macon basketball program have allowed me to be a part of their lives,” LaHaye said. “The young women that have given me the opportunity to be their coach are the ones who have made this program what it is today. In all of our successes, I truly believe we have done it together! I could not have done it alone and I will always be indebted to the sacrifices we have made for each other to be who we are today. This is an honor to be shared with many who deserve the credit as well.”
A native of Maine, LaHaye earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in business management-recreation from the University of Maine-Machias in 1977. In addition to being an excellent student, she was a standout performer in basketball and volleyball. Prior to coming to Randolph-Macon, LaHaye worked as a program director at the North Richmond YMCA and as program coordinator for the Hanover County Parks and Recreation Department. Since joining the Randolph-Macon athletics staff, along with her position as head women’s basketball coach, she also served as women’s athletic coordinator and head coach of soccer and lacrosse.
Currently, LaHaye is an assistant athletics director, director of physical education and associate professor of physical education at Randolph-Macon. She is also a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
LaHaye, who is in her 25th year of coaching the Yellow Jackets, has an overall record of 408-258 and has led her team to their third straight ODAC women’s basketball championship and the NCAA Division III sweet sixteen tournament. She currently has compiled a 256-90 record in the ODAC.
Last season, R-MC captured its second consecutive ODAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. The Yellow Jackets ended their season at 28-3 after advancing to the “Elite Eight” of the national tournament.
The 2004-05 Yellow Jackets’ accomplishments included: winning the ODAC tournament for the second time in three years; finishing with the most wins in the program’s history at 30-2; becoming the first-ever women’s team in the ODAC to go 20-0; advancing to the NCAA tournament Final Four for the first time in the history of both R-MC and ODAC women’s basketball; finishing second in the NCAA tournament; achieving the longest winning streak in the history of the program at 23 games; and finishing ranked #2 in the nation and #1 in the South Region. LaHaye was named the ODAC Coach of the Year and the Virginia Sports Information Directors state Coach of the Year.