Chanel Spriggs is entering her fifth season coaching at IUPUI and her second year as the Associate Head Coach. Spriggs serves as IUPUI’s recruting coordinator, where her efforts have paid dividends for the Jaguars, bringing in players from across the country. Since taking over, Spriggs has brough in players from Indiana, California, Texas, Georgia, Australia, South Carolina, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio and Connecticut.
Included among Spriggs’s recruits have been five-time First Team All-Summit honoree Jernisha Cann and two-time selection Julia Whitted, who was among the country’s most improved players in 2007-08. In the 2007-08 recruiting class, three of IUPUI’s five signees were all-state choices, while all five received all-conference honors. Following up on that success, the 2008-09 class includes four players who were all-conference choices or better in their senior year of high school.
Having served on Head Coach Shann Hart’s coaching staff since Hart came to IUPUI, Spriggs has coached both the guards and interior post players, along with focusing on the team’s defense. In 2007-08, the IUPUI defense led The Summit League, allowing just 57.0 points per game, while ranking 32nd in the nation. The opportunistic, pressuring defense led to an average of 10.6 steals per game. In the 2006-07 campaign, the Jags defense set a new school Division I record by holding Western Illinois without a field goal for 16:55 in IUPUI’s 34-31 win over the Westerwinds. Offensively, IUPUI had 470 assists, going over 400 assists for the third straight season.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Spriggs played for Hart at American University after transferring from St. Mary’s (Md.). In her transfer year, Spriggs served as a student-assistant coach. At American, Spriggs was a defensive stopper for the Eagles, earning Defensive MVP honors in each of her four seasons. Spriggs owns every steals record at American, setting marks for thefts in a single game (11), season (117) and career (326). In her senior year, Spriggs finished second in the NCAA in steals. Spriggs served a the team’s co-captain her senior year, and finished second on the team in assists and scoring, while placing third in rebounding in senior year. To finish her career, Spriggs earned Second Team All-Patriot League.
A graduate of American University (2003), Spriggs obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Communications and Marketing from American in 2004. The native of Sunderland, Maryland was elected into Northern (Md.) High School Hall of Fame.
Coach Hart on Coach Spriggs: “Chanel’s youthfulness and collegiate experience both as a coach and player are a great benefit to the team. Recruiting is her strength, as she relates extremely well with our players. The enthusiasm and intensity that she brings to the court are a great addition to our staff. Her knowledge of my coaching system has been a big help implementing it at IUPUI.”
