Covenant Women's Basketball Head Coach Tonya McIntosh has announced the hiring of Samantha Russell as her new assistant coach.
"We are thrilled to welcome Samantha Russell to our women's basketball program. Samantha is a champion both on and off the court," McIntosh said. "She brings a deep desire to build meaningful relationships with our players and recruits—relationships that will allow her to speak life into them daily and share the truth of the gospel through the powerful platform of basketball. Her energy, passion, and commitment to excellence will be a driving force in building and shaping our program for years to come."
Russell joins the Covenant coaching staff after spending a season as an assistant coach for King University, an NCAA Division II program in Bristol, Tn. During her one year at King, she helped guide the Tornados to a 13-16 record, after winning just three games the year before. King also advanced to the second round of the Conference of Carolinas Tournament.
Some of Russell's duties as an assistant at King included planning and running team practices, recruiting, coordinating team travel and leading team strength sessions.
"I am super excited and grateful to be joining Covenant Women's Basketball," Russell said. "I want to thank Coach McIntosh and Coach Hirte for giving me this opportunity to be a part of the game I love and serve the Lord while doing it. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this team!"
Russell graduated from Bryan College in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Health Science where she was a three-year player after starting her career at Young Harris.
In her first season with the Lions, she was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year. Russell was a two-time All-Conference player and during her final season at Bryan she was the Conference Player of the Year and a Third Team All-American.
Russell was a huge part of a successful three-year stretch for Bryan as it went 84-14 with three AAC Regular Season Championships. Statistically she averaged 17.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for her career.
"Samantha will be an amazing addition to our Women's Basketball Staff," said Director of Athletics John Hirte. "Her familiarity with the area as both a player and a coach and with her experiences this past year at King will serve to greatly assist Coach McIntosh and the program that she is continuing to build here on the mountain. We are thrilled to have her aboard."
Other experiences that Russell has had include two years of coaching an AAU program in Tennessee as well as completing a High School Coaching Internship in 2023.