When Erica Leak was hired as the new University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff women’s basketball coach, she had a challenge ahead of her.
She said Thursday at SWAC Media Days in Atlanta she hasn’t had many chances to stop and breathe, but she is excited to get her debut season with the Lady Lions underway.
“Right now, we have been extremely busy with gelling with nine new players and three returning players and an entire new staff,” Leak said. “Just molding and gelling and trying to find what we do best and work on our chemistry. So, it’s just been a really exciting time to just mold quickly … I am optimistic in the direction that we’re heading.”
Most of last year’s roster left via the transfer portal after last season. Those that didn’t leave right away eventually did once previous head coach Dawn Thornton left UAPB for the same position at Alabama A&M.
With just three players left over, Leak had to quickly get to work rebuilding the roster. The former West Memphis High School coach’s first four signees included one of her former players, Janiyah Tucker, along with a pair of Memphis natives.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Walters State College transfer forward Kristyna Boyd averaged 13 points and eight rebounds per game last season, while Northwest Kansas Tech transfer guard Serena Lee averaged 17.8 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Among Leaks’ later commitments was UTEP transfer D’Arrah Allen. She didn’t play during her time at UTEP but averaged 16.2 points as a sophomore at Seward County Community College.
“We hit the ground running in the portal looking for girls, young women, to see if they could fit the mold, the style of play that I’m accustomed to playing,” Leak said. “My coaching staff and I did a very good job of beating the pavement and finding those pieces that we know that we can develop and get them to a place where we’ll be playing up-tempo basketball with an inside-outside philosophy.”
With virtually an entirely new roster and coaching staff, the Lady Lions will be a different team from years past. Although UAPB earned some respect around the SWAC for the success it had during Thornton’s tenure, Leak’s Lions will have to start from the bottom and work their way up, which was reflected in the preseason poll and awards.
After finishing fourth in the SWAC last season, UAPB was picked to finish 11th in Leak’s debut. No Lady Lions made the preseason all-SWAC teams, though a former one, Alabama A&M’s Coriah Beck, was named first team.
Whether this is an accurate reflection of how this team will do or simply the SWAC coaches not knowing what to expect from the new Lady Lions remains to be seen. For now, Leak said she has been instilling her core values of character, commitment, confidence, class, courage and community into her players off the court.
On the court, Leak said her identity as a coach revolves around defense.
“Tenacious, dog defense,” Leak said. “I am a defensive-minded coach, and we want to dictate what our opponents do out there. We wanna make you uncomfortable, and also just know that you’re going to have every shot contested, and that everything is earned.”