Jimmy Garrity enters his 10th season as the head coach of the Wofford women’s basketball program in 2025-26. Garrity was named head coach on April 25, 2016. In his nine seasons at the helm, he has seen players earn 20 All-Southern Conference honors, nine All-Freshman Team honors, six All-Defensive Team selections, two SoCon Freshmen of the Year, three SoCon Players of the Year, and one SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Garrity has been named SoCon Coach of the Year once (2022-23), the first in program history. Garrity led the Terriers to their first-ever Division I postseason appearance in 2021-22 with a berth in the WNIT, and he guided Wofford to its first-ever SoCon Regular Season Championship in 2022-23, the first title for any Wofford women's team sport.
The program continued to succeed in the 2024-25 campaign, posting a 17-12 record with an 8-6 SoCon clip to finish fourth in the league despite several key injuries throughout the season. Inside the friendly confines of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, the Terriers were 12-2 to secure their 10th-straight season with a .500 or better home record alongside a fourth consecutive season with double-digit home wins. With an unblemished 7-0 home mark in non-conference play, Wofford went undefeated at home in non-conference games for the second time in three seasons. Wofford opened SoCon play with six wins in a row, the best start to conference play in program history. Against Western Carolina on January 18, Garrity recorded the 200th overall win of his career. The Terriers defeated No. 5 seed Samford in the SoCon Tournament before falling to top-seeded UNCG, but Wofford reached the semifinals for a fifth-straight campaign. At season’s end, Evangelia Paulk earned SoCon Player of the Year and SoCon Defensive Player of the Year honors, marking the third-straight season a Terrier has earned the league’s top honor while becoming the first in program history to garner the top defensive selection. Joining her on the All-SoCon First Team was Helen Matthews, who added a SoCon All-Tournament Team selection after posting stellar performances while playing through a challenging elbow injury. Libby Privett earned the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award while Molly Masingale picked up SoCon All-Freshman Team recognition. Wofford led the SoCon in assist/turnover ratio (0.85), field goal percentage defense (36.9), free throw percentage (77.3), defensive rebounds per game (26.4), and rebounds per game (39.62). Paulk recorded the program’s second triple-double against Samford on February 20, doing so unconventionally with points, rebounds, and steals, becoming the first SoCon player to ever record the feat with steals as one of the markers. Her 13 swipes against Erskine broke the program record for a game, and her 95 total for the year led the conference, ranked 11th in the nation, and fell just two short of the program’s season record.
The 2023-24 season was another strong year for the program, as Garrity's squad went 17-13 with an 8-6 SoCon record. The season saw another program first, as the Terriers downed Virginia 71-70 on December 16 with Rachael Rose's last-second floater, securing the program's first-ever win over an ACC foe and just the second Power Five win (Alabama, 2012). With a 13-2 home record, the Terriers tallied their largest win total ever at home. Rose's triple-double against Furman on January 20 was another historic feat, the first for the program. At the conclusion of the season, Rose repeated as SoCon Player of the Year to become the only player in program history to garner the award twice, let alone consecutively. Rose was also a First-Team All-SoCon Selection, and Annabelle Schultz earned SoCon All-Defensive Team honors alongside a Third-Team All-SoCon nod. Evangelia Paulk and Maddie Heiss were both named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team, and Paulk was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year to become just the third recipient in program history. Wofford led the SoCon in numerous categories, including assist/turnover ratio (0.98), defensive rebounds per game (27.2), scoring offense (66.6), three-point attempts per game (25.0), three-point percentage defense (25.4), three-pointers per game (7.8), turnover margin (+2.83) and turnovers per game (12.1).
The Terriers continued to rise to unprecedented heights under Garrity in the 2022-23 campaign with a 22-10 overall record and a 10-4 Southern Conference clip. The 22 wins are a new program record for Wofford's Division I era and the first 20-win season at the D-I level. The 10-4 SoCon record was enough to claim the SoCon Regular Season Championship, the first for not just the program but for any Wofford women's team sport. Wofford accomplished more historic firsts during the season, including a road win at Mercer and a season series sweep of the Bears. The Terriers notched a seven-game win streak from Nov. 16 to Dec. 5 early in the season, a new D-I era record for consecutive wins. The Terriers were stout at home, going 11-2 in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, tying for the most home wins in program history. On the road, Wofford was just as good with a 9-7 clip, a new program record for road wins. At the conclusion of the season, Garrity was named SoCon Coach of the Year by the media, the first coach in program history to earn the award. Rachael Rose was tabbed SoCon Player of the Year by the coaches, just the second player in program history to garner the distinction. Rose was named to the All-SoCon First Team, with Jackie Carman (second team) and Lilly Hatton (third team) also being recognized. Helen Matthews was named to the All-Defensive Team. Wofford made its second-ever apperance in the SoCon Championship Game before falling short to Chattanooga, but a record four Terriers earned SoCon All-Tournament honors: Rose, Carman, Hatton and Matthews. Wofford made its second-straight appearance in the WNIT to end the campaign, falling short at Florida despite coming within one shot of the Gators. The Terriers paced the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.09), fouls per game (14.1), scoring offense (69.7), steals per game (7.7), threes made per game (8.4), turnover margin (+5.53) and turnovers per game (10.3). That turnovers average of 10.3 was third-fewest in the entire nation.
The 2021-22 season saw the team continue to reach new heights with a 17-14 overall record and an 11-3 SoCon mark. The 17 overall victories are the most at the Division I level in program history (fourth overall), and the 11-3 SoCon record is also the program's best ever. The team achieved a plethora of historic firsts, including road wins at Furman and Chattanooga and season series sweeps of Furman, Samford and Chattanooga. The season opened with the program's first Preseason WNIT Classic appearance with three games in Raleigh, N.C., including one against the host No. 5 NC State Wolfpack. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, Jackie Carman was named All-SoCon First Team by the coaches and media, and Lilly Hatton earned second-team honors by both. Niyah Lutz and Alexis Tomlin garnered third-team selections from the media. Reagan Rapert was named to the SoCon All-Freshman and All-Defensive Teams. The Terriers led the SoCon in scoring offense (66.2 PPG), free throw percentage (74.6%) and assist/turnover ratio (0.9).
The squad entered the Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed, its highest seeding ever. After a first-round win over No. 7 ETSU 66-54, the Terriers fell to No. 3 Furman in the semifinals in a close 59-64 contest. Alexis Tomlin and Jackie Carman earned All-Tournament nods on the first and second teams, respectively. The season was not over after the SoCon Tournament, as the Terriers made their first-ever appearance in the WNIT, which was the program's first postseason appearance at the Division I level. Wofford played at Middle Tennessee in the first round.
During the 2020-21 season, the team was 13-11 overall and 7-7 in Southern Conference play. Highlights included a home win over Furman and a series sweep of East Tennessee State. Following the regular season, Lilly Hatton was named to the All-SoCon Second Team by both the coaches and media, while Jamari McDavid was named to the All-SoCon Third Team by the media and was the recipient of the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award. Among SoCon teams, the Terriers were ranked first in rebounding margin (+3.8), fourth in scoring offense (62.5 ppg) and third in scoring defense (61.3 ppg).
In the Southern Conference Tournament, the team entered as the #4 seed. After a 78-66 win over #5 seed UNCG, the Terriers earned a 75-64 victory against #8 seed East Tennessee State in the semifinals. With the Terriers in the championship game for the first time in school history, Wofford was defeated by #2 seed Mercer. Lilly Hatton and Helen Matthews were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The 2019-2020 season saw the team finish with its best conference record in program history (8-6). They started the season with a last second loss against Auburn, but that showed promise for the year. The Terriers won convincingly against Mercer on 1/11/20 for the first time since 1997. Wofford recorded their first road conference win against ETSU, which started a four-game win streak. Another history marker was when the squad won its first ever game at Samford, defeating them 69-63. By the end of the year, Lilly Hatton was honored as Freshman of the Year, along with Chloe Wanink, Da’Ja Green, and Cairo Booker receiving All-Conference accolades as well.
The 2018-19 season marked the turning point for Wofford women’s basketball, as Garrity led the team to their first winning season since the 2001-02 campaign with a 16-15 overall record and 7-7 SoCon mark in his third year at the helm. They earned their highest SoCon tournament seed since 2002 as a No. 5 seed, while Garrity earned his first SoCon tournament win in the quarterfinals with a upset victory over No. 4 seed ETSU, 75-66. The win marked the first playoff win since the 2011-12 season and first semifinals appearance since 2002. Garrity led the team to the program’s second best home record (12-1) while also landing a program-best five Terriers on all-conference teams: Chloe Wanink (First Team), Da’Ja Green (Second/Third Team), Cairo Booker (Third/All-Defensive Team), Niyah Lutz and Jackie Carman (All-Freshman Team). Additionally, the team led the SoCon in scoring offense (72.8 ppg), 3-point field goal percentage (.350), and turnover margin (+4.48), while becoming the highest scoring team (2,258 pts - 857 made field goals) and best 3-point shooting team (35.0% - 180 made threes) in program history.
Garrity led the Terriers to a 10-20 record in 2017-18. After losing star guard Chloe Wanink to a season-ending knee injury seven games into the season, Garrity lead a group of young players through the transition from high school to college ball. Despite a record of 10-20 and 3-11 in the conference, the Terriers played numerous close games and picked up just the program’s eighth win all-time against Furman in a dominant 79-48 victory over the Paladins. Freshman guard Da’Ja Green was named Second-Team All Conference and joined her teammate and fellow freshman Jamari McDavid on the All-Freshman team.
In Garrity’s first season at the helm he led the Terriers to a 13-17 record overall and helped Wofford win six games away from Spartanburg, a vast improvement from the 2015-16 season when the Terriers won just one game on the road. Chloe Wanink was named All-Southern Conference Second Team as she averaged 16 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
In the three year prior to his arrival at Wofford, Garrity serves as head coach at Anderson University. From 2013-15, Anderson reached the NCAA Division II Tournament twice as an at-large selection and in 2015 advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. At Anderson, Garrity coached two South Atlantic Conference Players of the Year.
In 2015-16, the Trojans were 23-7 overall, including a 79-55 win over Clemson to open the year. They were the South Atlantic Conference regular season champions with an 18-4 record and were nationally ranked in the top 25. The squad was an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. As the #5 seed, they advanced to the second round after a win over #4 seed Clayton State. Senior forward Jennifer Monroe was named the SAC Player of the Year and first team All-Southeast Region. Junior guard Heather Jankowy earned SAC second team honors.
Stringing together one of the program’s best seasons in 2014-15, Garrity was tabbed South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year. Garrity led the Trojans to a 27-5 overall record and a berth into the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Prior to the postseason run, Garrity became the first coach in conference history to win 20 league games, finishing the season with a 20-2 SAC record and a regular-season championship. Garrity also saw point guard Sierra Simpson earn SAC Player of the Year and SAC first team honors.
In his first season at Anderson in 2013-14, Garrity led the Trojans to a 16-14 overall record and an 11-11 mark in SAC play. Anderson placed three players on all-conference teams, including Simpson’s All-SAC second team honor and Alexis Dillard’s all-freshman team spot.
Garrity spent the 2012-13 season at Clemson University as the women’s basketball assistant coach. With the Tigers, Garrity was in charge of scouting, practice planning, game scheduling, coordinating of the guards, community service and alumni relations. Garrity also monitored the academic success of the student-athletes.
Before his time at Clemson, Garrity spent a decade in various capacities with the UNC Wilmington basketball program. He was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations in 2002 for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Once the position spilt into two different roles, Garrity took over just the women’s side while also becoming an assistant coach in 2007. Continuing his tenure with UNCW, Garrity was promoted to the associate head coach role in 2011 and coached his team to the second round of the WNIT.
Garrity graduated from Elon in 1989 with a degree in business administration and marketing and later earned a Master’s in sports administration from St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla. in 1990.
Garrity is married to Jenny Garrity, who served as UNCW’s women’s tennis coach for 13 seasons. The couple have two daughters Kacey and Carly, and a son Corey.
