Alaura Sharp, who led Presbyterian College to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and win in March 2024, was named the ninth head coach in App State women’s basketball history on April 5, 2024.
In her first season at the helm of the App State program, Sharp guided the Mountaineers to their best Sun Belt start in program history with a 9-3 record from Dec. 29 to Feb. 5. The Mountaineers also recorded a pair of four-game win-streaks from four Dec. 21 to Jan. 4 and Jan. 18 to Jan. 30. Sharp recorded her first victory at the helm of the App State program on Nov. 6, 2024 with a 97-43 victory against Columbia College (S.C.). For the first time in the Sharp era, App State recorded a 100-point victory, defeating Clinton College, 101-44, on Nov. 20, 2024. The game marked the program’s 20th game where the Mountaineers have scored 100 or more points. App State also saw SBC Preseason First-Team selection Emily Carver become the 29th Mountaineer to eclipse 1,000 career points in the Black and Gold. Academically, the women’s basketball team recorded a 3.44 cumulative GPA, saw three Mountaineers land on the Chancellor’s List and a pair land on the Dean’s List.
Sharp guided Presbyterian to its first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, which turned into its first NCAA Tournament victory when the Blue Hose defeated Sacred Heart 49-42 in the First Four. Presbyterian then fell to No. 1 South Carolina, but not before Sharp led her squad to a program-record 21 wins.
Before serving six seasons as head coach at Presbyterian, Sharp was an assistant for two years each at Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, where she helped her teams earn a postseason bid all four seasons. She was also a successful head coach at the junior college level at Garden City (Kan.) Community College and Lamar (Colo.) Community College.
In addition to earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth and setting the wins record, Sharp’s 2023-24 Blue Hose team claimed the program’s first Big South Tournament title and became the first No. 5 seed to ever win the Big South women’s tournament when they trounced Radford 60-37 in the championship game on ESPN2.
Coaching at the smallest Division I school in the country, Sharp led Presbyterian to steady improvements throughout her first five seasons leading up to the breakout sixth campaign. Her 2020-21 team turned in the program’s first winning record (11-10) in five years, while her 2022-23 squad captured their best league finish (tied for fourth) in seven years.
Under Sharp’s tutelage, center Bryanna Brady became the program’s first two-time All-Big South honoree, while guard Tilda Sjökvist also earned All-Big South accolades in 2023-24. Sjökvist was named the 2024 Big South Tournament MVP, while Brady and Mara Neira joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
Sharp’s teams are known for defensive tenacity and efficient offense, as evidenced by PC leading the Big South and ranking 56th nationally in scoring defense in 2023-24, while also topping the league in assists per outing. A season earlier, the Blue Hose ranked top 65 nationally in field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made per game, while Brady led the league and was 24th in the nation in field-goal percentage.
In two seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisiana Tech, she helped the Lady Techsters make their first postseason appearance in six seasons with a WNIT berth in 2016-17, followed by a 19-win season in 2017-18 and a second consecutive WNIT appearance.
Sharp spent the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Southern Miss, where she helped the Golden Eagles reach back-to-back Conference USA Tournament championship games and make a pair of WNIT trips. The 2014-15 team advanced to the WNIT quarterfinals, and Southern Miss won a total of 52 games in Sharp’s two seasons on staff.
From 2009-13, Sharp spent four seasons as head coach at Garden City Community College, where she compiled an 83-45 record, defeated 11 nationally ranked teams, and turned the Broncbusters into a top contender each year in the tough Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and Region VI.
Sharp guided GCCC to its best record in school history at 29-4 and a No. 13 ranking in the NJCAA polls in 2012-13 and mentored an All-American in Tamara Jones from Prosser, Wash., in her last two years. She was awarded the KJCCC Coach of the Year in her first season in 2009-10, while her teams advanced to the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament in 2012 and 2013.
She spent the 2008-09 season as head coach at Lamar Community College in Colorado after a two-year stint as an assistant at Adams State University.
A native of Fredonia, Kansas, Sharp was a second-team All-KJCCC selection and NJCAA Academic All-American at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College while averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore. She finished her collegiate career at Southwest Minnesota State, where she led her team in steals at 3.5 per game.
Sharp graduated magna cum laude from SMSU in 2006, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a sports management concentration and a minor in coaching.
ALAURA SHARP AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
2006-08: Adams State University (assistant coach)
2008-09: Lamar (Colo.) Community College (head coach)
2009-13: Garden City (Kan.) Community College (head coach)
2013-16: Southern Miss (associate head coach/recruiting coordinator)
2016-18: Louisiana Tech (assistant coach/recruiting coordinator)
2018-24: Presbyterian College (head coach)
2024-present: App State (head coach)
Playing Experience
2002-04: Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College (forward)
2004-06: Southwest Minnesota State (forward)
Alma Mater: Southwest Minnesota State, 2006
Hometown: Fredonia, Kansas
Twitter: @CoachASharp
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT ALAURA SHARP
"We are thrilled to welcome Alaura to the App State family. She is a proven leader who has recruited and developed student-athletes at a high level. Her vision for the program aligns with our core values of academic integrity, competitive excellence, social responsibility and a world-class experience. We are excited about the future of App State Women's Basketball."
– Doug Gillin, App State Director of Athletics
