After spending the last 17 years as head coach at Lander University, Kevin Pederson is taking the next step. On Tuesday, Coastal Carolina announced the Bearcats head man as its new women’s basketball coach. Pederson replaces Jaida Williams, who was relieved of her duties in March after nine seasons on the bench with the Chanticleers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kevin and his family to Teal Nation,” athletics director Matt Hogue stated in a release. “Throughout this process, his qualifications, success, and references continued to impress, and his seasoned head coaching experience of nearly 450 wins and 21 seasons certainly stood out. We look forward to getting to work and writing the next chapter of Chanticleer women’s basketball.”
From the CCU Release:
Pederson led Lander University to unprecedented success during his 17 years (2005-22) in Greenwood, S.C., as he guided the Bearcats to a 356-160 overall record fueled by 13 NCAA Division II Championship Tournament appearances, including the last eight straight seasons. Most recently, Pederson directed the Bearcats to a 24-5 overall record, a 15-3 Peach Belt Conference record, and advanced to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championship Regional final.
Pederson owns an impressive .699 winning percentage (444-191) through 21 seasons as an intercollegiate head women’s basketball coach with all of those 444 career wins coming at South Carolina institutions in Lander (356-160) and Anderson University (88-31).
The all-time wins leader for Lander women’s basketball and conference wins leader in women’s basketball for the Peach Belt Conference, Pederson led the Bearcats to two NCAA DII Region Championships (2011-12 and 2020-21), four Peach Belt regular-season championships (2007-08, 2009-10, 2019-20, and 2020-21), two Peach Belt Conference division championships (2015-16 and 2016-17), and four Peach Belt Conference Tournament championships (2007-08, 2008-09, 2015-16, and 2019-20).
In his four years as the head coach at Anderson (2002-05), he led the Trojans to a Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) regular-season championship in 2004-05 and back-to-back tournament championships in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Pederson, a three-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBC) Region Coach of the Year (2009-10, 2019-20, and 2020-21) and three-time conference coach of the year (2004-05, 2009-10, and 2020-21), has recorded 15 20-win seasons, including eight 25-plus win seasons, and was the first coach in the state of South Carolina to lead a team to three straight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances.
He has recorded a 20-14 career record in the NCAA DII Championship Tournament, making 15 appearances in 21 seasons. He has taken his teams to seven Sweet 16 appearances (2004-05, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2018-19, 2020-21, and 2021-22), made two Elite 8 appearances (2011-12 and 2020-21), and reached one Final 4 (2020-21). His teams have finished in the NCAA DII Top 25 national rankings eight times, including his most recent 2021-22 Lander squad completing the season ranked No. 10 in the NCAA DII Top 25 Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the D2SIDA Final WBB Poll.
In addition to serving as Lander’s women’s head basketball coach, Pederson has served as the associate athletic director since 2016, where he oversaw the entire athletic department budget and individual sports team accounts.
Pederson started his coaching career as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Anderson College (S.C.) from 1999 to 2005. He also served as the head junior varsity coach for the men’s team from 2000 to 2002 before taking over the reins of the women’s basketball program in January 2002, first on an interim basis and then full-time.
Pederson, a native of Fairfax, Va., worked five seasons for the Clemson University men’s basketball program as a student manager from 1994 to 1999 under Rick Barnes and Larry Shyatt before joining Anderson College in 2001. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Clemson and a master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy.
