Symone Denham will serve as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for her second season at Bradley.
A three-time honoree in the WBCA Thirty Under 30 program, which was created to recognize 30 up-and-coming women’s basketball coaches age 30 and under at all levels of the game, Denham played collegiately at Wright State (2012-16) and was a member of a UNM coaching staff that led the Lobos to a 105-50 (.677) combined record and four appearances in the WNIT during her five seasons (2017-22).
“I'm so thrilled to round out our coaching staff with Symone,” said Popovec. “Everywhere Symone has been, she has won at the highest level. She owns conference championships as a player and a coach and has been mentored by some of the brightest minds in our game.
“Symone will serve as a strong example to our players and add unique insight to our staff,” added Popovec. “I'm elated that she is a Brave!"
Denham comes to the hilltop after working as an assistant coach at New Mexico. Working with the guards while helping UNM to the 2020-21 Mountain West Conference regular-season title, Denham had her hands on one of the most prolific offenses in the country the last two seasons. After ranking ninth nationally in scoring in 2020-21 at 81.2 points per game, the 2021-22 Lobos ranked 14th nationally by averaging 76.6 ppg. UNM also ranked third nationally by pouring in a program-record 346 3-point field goals this past season, while knocking down their long-range attempts at 35.1 percent (30th). UNM scored at least 80 points 24 times the last two seasons, topped by a 120-point effort Dec. 17, 2020 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
As a student-athlete at Wright State, Denham was part of the winningest team in program history and helped the Raiders to the 2014 Horizon League championship. After earning a spot on the 2015 Horizon League All-Tournament squad, Dehham served as team captain during her senior year in 2015-16, while also representing the women’s basketball squad on Wright State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
Denham graduated from Wright State in 2016 with her bachelor’s degree in business finance and economics. She began her coaching career at Lourdes University as a graduate assistant while earning her MBA in December 2017. Denham joined the New Mexico staff as video coordinator in 2017 and was promoted to assistant coach in 2018. She doubled as assistant coach and director of basketball operations during the 2019-20 campaign.