Chelsea Hudson hired to lead women’s basketball

Panola College is proud to announce Chelsea Hudson as the head coach of the women’s basketball team beginning in Fall 2022. Hudson returns to the College after serving as assistant coach from 2017 to 2019.

Hudson is set to head the program following a successful season as an assistant coach at Tyler Junior College, where the team won a national title. Along with the title, coaching the tournament MVP and NJCAA All-American, Hudson was named the 2022 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches assistant coach of the year.

From July 2019 to 2021, Hudson coached two years at the NCAA Division I level as an assistant coach at Tennessee State University. Hudson, who played four seasons at Tennessee State from 2011 to 2015, is the program’s 11th all-time leading scorer. She also led Tennessee State to an OVC championship and NCAA berth in 2015.

A 2019 WBCA Thirty Under 30 honoree, Hudson went to Tennessee State following two years as an assistant coach at Panola College. In her first year with Panola, the Fillies were the Region XIV regular season champions and earned an NJCAA National Tournament at-large bid. Panola also ranked 19th in the nation during the 2017-2018 season.

Prior to joining the Panola staff, Hudson had a successful stint with Pearl Cohn High School in Nashville, Tenn. Hudson helped lead the girl’s basketball team to a 25-5 record in 2016-2017 while clinching a TSSAA Class AA State appearance for only the second time in school history. Hudson was named District 10-AA assistant coach of the year after coaching the Lady Firebirds to TSSAA Class AA State Runner Up, Region 5-AA Runner Up, District 10-AA Tournament Champions, and District 10-AA Regular Season Champions.

As an undergrad with the TSU women’s basketball team, Hudson’s accolades included All-OVC Tournament team, two-time All-OVC second-team, BoxtoRow All-American and two-time BoxtoRow National Player of the Week. Hudson was also nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award and was named the TSU female athlete of the year in 2015, and as of late OVC 2019 legend.

A native of Midland, Texas, Hudson graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Tennessee State in 2013 before earning a Master’s in Education in 2015.

“I am so excited for the opportunity to serve at Panola College, a place I consider home,” said Hudson. “I believe we have the community, facilities, and talent to be successful. I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and all of those I have worked with or under who have helped prepare me for this moment.”