RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s women’s basketball coach Larry Joe Inman will be one of the speakers at the first ever Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association coaches’ clinic. Inman is one of two college coaches invited to speak at the event that will be held in conjunction with the Tennessee East/West All-Star Game. The all-star weekend begins on Friday, April 11. Inman will conduct a clinic on Saturday, April 12.
Inman, having just finished his 20th season at EKU and his 28th season as a college head coach, will be joined at the coaches’ clinic by Tennessee Tech Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Sutton.
“It is a real honor to get to do this,” Inman said. “This is a great organization and I’m looking forward to being a part of this event.”
The all-star festivities are being held at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn. The coaches’ clinic begins at 11 a.m. ET.
Inman has compiled a 480-318 record in 28 seasons of coaching women’s basketball at the collegiate level. He began the 2007-08 season as the 27th winningest active coach. Inman has been selected as the Ohio Valley Coach of the Year eight times and has led his teams to 10 regular season conference championships and six conference tournament titles. His teams have made six appearances in the NCAA Tournament and one trip to the WNIT.
Inman’s coaching career began in Tennessee and he is a former member of the TACA. His first high school coaching job came at Mount Juliet High School in Nashville, Tenn., and his team had enough success to fill a trophy case. In just five years, Inman led Mount Juliet to five district titles, four regional championships, three Nashville Interscholastic League titles and the 1977 Tennessee Class AAA state title. Prior to his years at Mount Juliet, Inman served as the head coach at Gallatin Junior High for four years.
After his years at the prep level, Inman quickly moved straight to the top job at Middle Tennessee State University. His first collegiate coaching stint was just as successful, capturing five regular season Ohio Valley Conference crowns in eight years. He was named OVC Coach of the Year three times and compiled a 161-73 record at the school. The Lady Raiders won a total of nine regular season and tournament championships during his time on the sidelines, including four consecutive regular season and tournament titles from 1983-86.
During his time at Eastern Kentucky, the Lady Colonels have consistently ranked among the top teams in the Ohio Valley Conference. In 2004-05, Inman earned his eighth OVC Coach of the Year honor while leading the Lady Colonels to both the conference regular season and tournament titles and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Under his guidance, Eastern won its first outright OVC regular season championship in 1996-97 and, in the process, established a league record for conference victories with 16 while also setting a program mark with 24 overall wins. This, coming off the heels of a share of it’s first-ever OVC title, a quad championship in 1994-95 was the beginning of the Lady Colonels’ conference success. In 1997-98, Inman added to the championship trophies at Eastern as he led the Lady Colonels to a share of the OVC title once again. In 2004 EKU captured the OVC title and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Eastern’s program has been one of consistency since the 1990’s, finishing in the top half of the league in all but five seasons. Over the past 15 seasons, Eastern has an impressive record of 298-198, a .601 winning percentage and has posted six 20+ win seasons.
Inman is the all-time winningest basketball coach, men's or women's, in Eastern Kentucky history.
