After a full year, Georgia Southern Women’s Basketball Head Coach Hana Haden is building the program her way, and it starts with culture.
Last season, her first at the Division I level, was a learning experience. The team finished with a 15-18 record but showed flashes of brilliance, winning seven of their last 11 games.
“I was really proud of the way that our team played down the stretch,” Haden said. “We felt like we underachieved for the better part of the season… so I was happy for that group… we did finally play some good basketball down the stretch and get some momentum.”
That momentum led to a new challenge: a massive roster overhaul. With only a few players returning, Coach Haden and her staff hit the recruiting trail with a clear plan.
“We sat down at the end of last year and, you know, we wanted to figure out how to get better,” Haden explained. “We were really focused on our culture… we believe culture wins and culture kills, and we wanted to be on the right side of that this year.”
For Haden, that meant recruiting “character first” and players with a “team-first mentality.” The goal was to build a “sisterhood,” believing that the more players enjoy playing together, the harder they’ll play for each other.
On the court, the focus was on fixing last season’s “four major deficiencies”: three-point shooting, three-point defense, turnovers, and free-throw shooting.
The new roster includes familiar faces for Haden, who brought in some of her former players from her championship-winning team at Georgia Southwestern, including guards Destiny Garrett, Shanti Simmons, and Statesboro’s own Armani Cooke.
“Leaving Georgia Southwestern was probably the hardest professional decision that I’ve had to make ever,” Haden admitted. “I was really, really attached to that group… I still remember when I got the job that I had to have a meeting and tell them, like I was a big baby. I was crying.”
Haden also reunited with McKenna “Ken” Eddings, who she coached for two years in junior college. Eddings will be the first player in Haden’s career that she has coached for four full years.
Now, with a full year at Georgia Southern, Haden is focused on connecting “Team 52,” the 52nd year of the program, with the community. The team has been active in community service, from Habitat for Humanity to reading at local schools.
“Our players are awesome at it. They love doing it,” Haden said. “Our goal was, you know, we want to give back because we’re blessed… we also wanted to engage in the community and hopefully get them out to see us.”
That effort paid off in the home opener, where Haden noticed an improved atmosphere in the new Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center.
“They’re young women that I think are very easy to support because they have great character. They treat people well,” Haden said. “They’re going to be fun to watch. And so again, we appreciate the growth that we saw in our crowd on Monday, and I hope to just continue to see that grow.”
