The longest-tenured basketball coach in Kennesaw State history, Colby Tilley is beginning his 17th season at the helm of the Lady Owls.
For three decades, Tilley has established himself as one of the most successful and well-respected members of the women’s basketball community. Tilley holds an impressive 728-311 record over the past 34 years as a collegiate head coach and has a sparkling .701 winning percentage for his career.
Kennesaw State has been a tough competitor every season under Tilley since moving to the Atlantic Sun Conference for the 2005-06 season. In the 2007-08 season, the Lady Owls finished their third season in the A-Sun with the first-ever winning record for a Division I Kennesaw State basketball team.
In 2009-10, the Lady Owls earned their first A-Sun Championships bid in their first year of eligibility. Kennesaw State went 8-12 in the A-Sun that season, winning six of its last eight A-Sun games to reach the tournament for the first time. The trend continued one year later as the Lady Owls earned yet another A-Sun Championships berth. KSU has qualified for the A-Sun’s post-season tournament in each year it has been eligible.
In 2007-08, Tilley led the Lady Owls to a 16-12 mark and finished tied for third place in the conference with an 11-5 mark. In 2008-09, the Lady Owls posted another winning record as they finished with a 15-14 record for back-to-back winning seasons. On Jan. 22, 2009, Coach Tilley earned his 700th career victory with a thrilling, 66-64, win at the buzzer against Lipscomb. On Jan. 31, 2009, he earned his 250th win at the helm of the Lady Owls with a, 73-57, win over Campbell at the KSU Convocation Center.
The 2006-07 squad finished with a 13-16 record and was 8-10 in conference play. In 2005-06, Kennesaw State’s first at the D-I level, the Lady Owls fought hard, but finished the season with a 4-16 record in the A-Sun and a 5-22 record overall. The 5-22 record ended Tilley’s streak of 15 consecutive winning seasons.
Tilley is also a top developer of individual talent. In each of his five seasons coaching in the A-Sun, Coach Tilley has had at least one player earn all-conference recognition. Last season, both Sametria Gideon and Brandi Jones earned A-Sun All-Freshman team honors. In 2008-09, Jennifer Baker was a Second-Team All-A-Sun honoree.
In the 2007-08 season, Tilley coached two of the top players in the conference as Britteny Henderson was named A-Sun Women’s Basketball Player of the Year while guard Greteya Kelley earned A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year honors.
In addition, Tilley has also coached all-conference honorees in two-time, all-conference selection Baker (2006-07 and 2008-09) and Shavonder Clarke (2005-06) as well as 2006-07 All-Freshman Team selection Rosetta Hollis.
In 2004-05, Tilley captured his 200th win as leader of the Lady Owls when his team downed Armstrong Atlantic, 76-71, on Feb. 2, 2005, en route to a 17-13 record.
During his stellar career at Kennesaw State, Tilley has guided Kennesaw State to three of their top four winning seasons. He has led the Lady Owls to three twenty-win seasons and had a 30-win campaign in 1996-97 which was the Black and Gold’s first NCAA Elite Eight appearance. Tilley again marched into the Elite Eight in 1998-99 when his 28-4 team advanced to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Tilley is the winningest coach in the history of Kennesaw State women’s basketball. He surpassed the late Ron Walker who coached KSU from 1986-1992 after the Lady Owls downed Armstrong Atlantic, 78-54, for his 125th win on Dec. 9, 2000. By adding another 20-win season to his resume, Tilley will tie Walker with four 20-plus-win seasons.
Before arriving on the Kennesaw State campus, Tilley spent nine years as the head coach at Auburn University at Montgomery (Ala.), where he started the women’s basketball program in 1986.
While putting together an overall mark if 218-74 (.747) at Auburn-Montgomery, his teams captured five Southern States Conference titles, five NAIA District 27 crowns and made seven appearances at the NAIA National Championship tournament.
In the 1993-94 season Tilley led the Lady Senators to their best finish and a Final Four showing. His last year pacing the Lady Senators was in 1994-95 during which his team went 34-3 overall while advancing to the Elite Eight.
During his time at Auburn-Montgomery, Tilley coached seven NAIA All-Americans including current assistant coach Leigh Swanson, who was a three-time all-america for the Lady Senators.
Prior to taking the job at AUM, Tilley ran the women’s basketball team at Truett-McConnell (Junior) College in Cleveland, Ga. from 1976 to 1984.
During his time at TMJC he steered the team to a 236-46 overall record (.837) in nine seasons. Tilley had one of the best back-to-back seasons in JUCO history when he led the Lady Danes to a 36-win season in 1979-80 and a 31-win campaign during the 1980-81 season.
Overall he won five state championships, four Region 17 titles, and a national crown in 1980. Over his 24 campaigns on the bench, Tilley has garnished several coaching honors, including being named the 1999 and 1997 NCAA Division II Coach-of -the-Year in Georgia by the Atlanta Tip-off Club.
He has also been given the Georgia Basketball Lifetime Achievement Award by the same organization for having at least 400 career wins. The 1997 PBAC Coach of the Year, Tilley has also been selected as the District Coach of the Year four times and Regional Coach of the Year twice while at AUM; and Region Coach of the Year on six more occasions at Truett-McConnell.
In the Danettes’ national championship season, he was selected as the 1980 NJCAA National Coach of the Year. Tilley is also a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Tilley began his coaching career in 1972 at Chatham (N.C.) Central High School, where he was an assistant football coach, head track coach and boys’ basketball coach for the freshman squad. He later moved up to the collegiate ranks at TMC in 1976.
A native of Raleigh, N.C., Tilley received his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University in 1972. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Georgia Southern University in 1974 and AUM in 1988. He also received his Ed.S (education specialist) degree at Auburn-Montgomery in 1992.
