Rigby gets inducted into former school’s Hall of Fame

Head coach Chanda Rigby coaches the Trojans from the sidelines as they take on Arkansas State at the Sun Belt Conference, Brady Fitch photo

Head coach Chanda Rigby, the winningest coach in Troy women’s basketball history, added another mark to her resume recently when she was inducted into the Pensacola State College Hall of Fame.

The achievement further cements the Franklinton, Louisiana, native into the record books at two schools now. Rigby made it into two Hall of Fames as well, the other one being the Florida College System Activities Association Hall of Fame.

“The first thing I thought of were the wonderful people and the great memories I have at Pensacola State” Rigby said. “The school just means so much to me for many reasons, but mainly because of the people.”

Rigby spent seven seasons at PSC before making the jump to cardinal. In those seasons, she held a win-loss record of 142-63 to hold just under a 70% winning percentage, sitting at 69.3%.

“Looking back at those players that I had, they made me the coach I am today,” Rigby said. “I had to change my recruiting philosophy.

“I had some really tough, hard personalities to deal with as far as players, but I found out that they can bring you the biggest reward, because you have to really try.”

Building a program at PSC wasn’t easy for Rigby, with PSC playing in one of the best conferences in junior college for women’s basketball.

“One thing I want to mention, because I’m being honored for all these wins, is the winning did not come fast,” Rigby said. “We were in the toughest league in the nation, going against Roonie Scovel at Gulf Coast, who is still to this day the best coach I’ve probably ever gone against.

“She beat me by over 50 points one of my first nights playing her, so just know the highest points come from the lowest points.”

Scovel, a hall of famer in her own right, and Rigby would continue to battle it out over the seven-year period Rigby spent in Pensacola, Florida. The two would meet so much that one of their last games would be one of Rigby’s favorite memories from PSC.

“I remember that first win against them,” Rigby said. “I heard a comment from one of my players, and it stuck with me forever about how excited they were to be there. I could see that they were hungry.

“That changed me forever to always try to have the healthiest, humblest and hungriest players at the end of every season. It felt like a lesson that I’ll forever remember.”

The program, and the city, showed out for Rigby while she was coaching the Lady Pirates.

“The better we got, the bigger the crowds got,” Rigby said. “I know Roy Jones Jr., the boxer, was from Pensacola and he would come out.

“I would look over there and think that he brought in that big crowd, but then I would look over there and he wasn’t there and the crowd was really big. It was an exciting time.”

Rigby finished her last two seasons at the beach with a combined 64-5 record, including a near perfect season in 2010-11, going 35-1. In that 2010-11 season, and subsequent 2011-12 season, she made the NJCAA Final Four twice.

The winningest coach in Troy women’s basketball history looks to add to the history this upcoming season when her Trojans take the court for her 15th season at the helm.

The Trojans start the season traveling to Kent, Ohio, to play Kent State in the Sun Belt/MAC Challenge on Nov 2.