In the two seasons that she has been coaching at VSU, Carley Kuhns has been a firecracker of success and shows no signs of burning out.

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Carley Kuhns produced VSU’s first 20-plus win season since 2011 and the first NCAA South Regional Tournament appearance since 2010 in her first season with the team.

This season she brought in a recruiting class with an array of players and skillsets that can help add to the early success.

Kuhns is from Atlanta, Georgia where she attended Parkview High School. She played basketball growing up and played on the VSU Women’s Basketball team for four seasons. She is a member of the 1,000 Point Club and Blazer Hall of Fame as a player.

She graduated from VSU with an undergrad degree in health and physical education and masters in higher leadership. Kuhns saw herself as a high school coach, but later found to love the college atmosphere. She served as an assistant coach in Nashville Tennessee at Belmont University.

In the two seasons that she has been at coaching at VSU, Carley Kuhns has been a firecracker of success and shows no signs of burning out.

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Carley Kuhns produced VSU’s first 20-plus win season since 2011 and the first NCAA South Regional Tournament appearance since 2010 in her first season with the team.

This season she brought in a recruiting class with an array of players and skillsets that can help add to the early success.

Kuhns is from Atlanta, Georgia where she attended Parkview High School. She played basketball growing up and played on the VSU Women’s Basketball team for four seasons. She is a member of the 1,000 Point Club and Blazer Hall of Fame as a player.

Kuhns graduated from VSU with a bachelor’s in health and physical education and master’s in higher leadership. Kuhns saw herself as a high school coach, but later grew to love the college atmosphere. She served as an assistant coach in Nashville, Tennessee at Belmont University.

“It’s kind of home, because I graduated from here, and I love the community,” Kuhns said.

Kuhns said she has already made up her mind about staying at VSU, and she wants to coach as long as she can. She feels like this job is for her because she grew up around the sport and education since both her parents were teachers. She was also already familiar with it and knew she would get a lot of support from the Blazer community.

“I plan on staying until they tell me I can’t anymore, or I feel like it’s something I’m not good at anymore,” Kuhns said.

Being a coach, Kuhns has also learned a few things and faced a few challenges in her career. Learning to set boundaries and establishing relationships is something that’s important to Kuhns.

“Being a young head coach, I learned how to set boundaries while also remembering it’s a game, and it’s supposed to be fun,” Kuhns said.

Kuhns has already made her mark at VSU by setting records in just her second year of coaching. She plans on continuing to set goals for the team.

“I just want to continue to see them improve every year,” Kuhns said. “I want to get to championships every year. We kind of developed this thing of winning at home, so staying undefeated at home would be really cool.”

Kuhns set impressions on not just her team, but others around her. Many people look up to her as a good role model.

“She is very patient, which a lot of coaches don’t have. One thing I admire about her is that she’s not afraid to admit when she’s wrong and owns up to her mistakes,” Chandler Merkerson, assistant coach, said.

Kuhns has many more years under her belt at VSU. She plans to continue helping the girls grow and also future players that plan to play at VSU. Her motivation comes from watching the girls grow and continually building relationships.

Written by Tylaise Christopher, Staff Writer. Photo Courtesy of VSU Athletics.

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