Tyler Dandridge will embark on his third year with the Norfolk State women’s basketball program in 2020-21, where he holds the role of director of basketball operations.
He has been part of a program that has excelled greatly in his two years. Last season, Norfolk State advanced to the MEAC tournament semifinals following a second-place finish in the regular season standings at 12-4. The Spartans tied for their best regular season MEAC finish ever on the way to a 19-win campaign, the most in 18 years.
The season was cut short prior to NSU’s game in the semifinals due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, the program finished with its best MEAC record by percentage, and the second-most overall wins in its Division I history.
In his first season in 2018-19, the NSU women posted their second-consecutive winning campaign, going 17-15 overall and 10-6 in the MEAC. The Spartans made their fourth-ever MEAC Championship game in 2018-19, finishing as runner-up in the conference after a fourth-place showing in the regular season standings.
Raven Russell (2018-19) and La’Deja James (2019-20) each earned second-team All-MEAC honors during Dandridge’s time with the program. Chanette Hicks, meanwhile, had one of the greatest seasons ever by an NSU player. She earned both the MEAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2019-20, each a first for the women’s program.
NSU has gone 36-26 overall in his two seasons, 22-10 in the league.
Dandridge came to the Spartans after a one-year stint as a women’s basketball assistant coach at Motlow State in Smyrna, Tennessee. He served as recruiting coordinator for head coach LaTanya Collins and was responsible for film management and the travel logistics of the team. He also supervised student managers.
Prior to Motlow State, Dandridge was a men’s basketball graduate assistant under head coach Josh Merkel at NCAA Division III Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. The Yellow Jackets posted a 17-9 record in 2016-17, including a 13-3 mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), and shared the regular-season title.
At RMC, Dandridge made travel arrangements for the team, orchestrated player development, coordinated practices, and served as an assistant director for basketball camps.
Dandridge also brings experience as a coach at the AAU level, where he has served as an assistant coach under Morris Smith on the Boo Williams BWSL 16U Gold team since 2015.
Dandridge graduated from Old Dominion University in 2016 with a degree in occupational and technical studies, with a concentration in marketing education. While at ODU, Dandridge served as a student manager for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. He also holds a master’s degree in sports leadership from the VCU School of Sports Leadership.
Dandridge currently teaches sports marketing and entrepreneurship at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. He also assists the A.W. Smith Financial Group with social media and marketing.
He is active with the South Sudan Girls’ Basketball Association, an organization striving to bring girls’ basketball alongside philanthropic ventures to South Sudan.
Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dandridge graduated from Patrick Henry High School and played high school basketball for four years. During his high school career, Dandridge received all-Capital District recognition three times and was a three-time all-academic team honoree.
