IU Indy Athletics

All it took was three seasons for IUPUI head women's basketball coach #Austin Parkinson# to turn around a program that posted three wins prior to his arrival, into a team that earned a Division-I era program-record 20 wins and the program's first Division-I postseason appearance in 2012-13.

Since his arrival during the 2010-11 season, Parkinson has directed IUPUI to more wins in each of his first three seasons than the previous season. After securing nine more wins during the 2011-12 season than the previous year, Parkinson led the Jaguars to 20 wins during the 2012-13 campaign, a seven-win improvement from 2011-12.

The success on the floor has also translated into recognition among his peers. Included in his 20 wins in 2012-13, were 12 Summit League victories - the most conference wins since joining the league during the 1998-99 season. For his efforts, Parkinson was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the first time in his career, while senior Kerah Nelson was named a first-team all-conference performer, junior DeAirra Goss was named a second-team all-league performer, and junior Dee-Dee Bellamy was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.

The 20-win campaign for the Jaguars also resulted in IUPUI making its first post-season appearance since joining the Division-I ranks during the 1998-99 campaign, when it was selected to participate in the 2013 WNIT.

Part of the reason for Parkinson's success in turning the program around has been his emphasis on recruiting the state of Indiana. In his three recruiting classes, eight of the 10 freshmen signees have come from the Hoosier State.

"The focus of our program will be on developing the girls into the best basketball players they can be, but more importantly, to develop them into young women that are prepared for success in life after basketball,” Parkinson said.

"Priority number one in recruiting is to build the relationships with players and coaches across the state of Indiana," Parkinson added. "There’s an abundance of talent throughout the Midwest and I look forward to the opportunity to recruit some of those individuals to IUPUI."

In his short tenure as the leader of the IUPUI women's basketball program, he helped Nelson become a two-time, first-team all-conference performer following two honorable-mention all-conference campaigns. As a junior Nelson ranked fifth in the Summit League in scoring averaging 16.2 ppg as a junior and totaled 518 points, ranking sixth on IUPUI’s single-season scoring chart and becoming the Jags single-season scoring leader in the Division I era. Nelson finished her career with 1,614 points, making her IUPUI's Division-I all-time scoring leader.

A point guard during his playing days at Purdue under legendary head coach Gene Keady, Parkinson valued sharing the basketball and limiting turnovers. Inheriting a team that turned the ball over six more times than their opponents and averaged less than 10 assists per game in 2009-10, Parkinson helped the 2010-11 squad to dramatically improve its turnover margin and assists total and that trend continued the proper direction in 2011-12.

Prior to leading the women’s basketball program, Parkinson served as an assistant coach of the IUPUI men’s basketball staff for two seasons and helped both Robert Glenn and Alex Young elevate to First Team All-Summit League honors in 2010. In addition, the Jags’ 25 wins in 2009-10 were one shy of the program’s single-season record in that category.

The 31-year old was a four-year letterwinner at Purdue from 2000-04 and closed his career tied for tenth on the Boilermakers’ all-time assist list after leading the squad in that category in both his sophomore and seniors seasons. Additionally, he led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of his final three seasons. He received both his B.S. (‘04) and Masters (‘06) from Purdue in Organizational Leadership and Supervision.

Parkinson comes from impressive basketball pedigree as his father, Bruce, is Purdue’s all-time assist leader and a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. His grandfather, Jack, played for the legendary Adolph Rupp at Kentucky and is a member of the Indiana and Kentucky Basketball Halls of Fame.

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Gene Keady

Charlie Hall