ENMU women's basketball head coach announces staff changes

PORTALES — Times they are a-changin’ for the Eastern New Mexico University women’s basketball program, as head coach Josh Prock announced changes to his staff following the departure of associate head coach Durmon Jennings.

Jennings is moving on to become an assistant coach at the University of North Texas — an NCAA Division I program in Denton, Texas — following three seasons as the associate coach at Eastern.

The Greyhounds accumulated an overall record of 57-32 and were selected for the NCAA Division II National Tournament in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons during Jennings’ ENMU tenure, after he spent the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons on the men’s basketball staff as a graduate assistant.

“We are extremely excited for Coach Jennings on his new position at the University of North Texas,” Prock said. “As a head coach, when you describe what an ideal assistant looks like, Durmon would definitely meet all of those qualities. Our success we have had over the past three years is a direct result of his tireless work he has put into our program. The young ladies in our program have great admiration for him and we know he will be greatly missed within our program and the community of Portales. We do expect great things from him as he moves forward with his career, and do greatly appreciate all he has done for our program.”

Mikaehla Connor will be elevated to a full-time role with the program after serving as a graduate assistant coach for each of the last two seasons. Connor was instrumental in the Hounds’ success in both seasons as they qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament in each.

Connor has been tasked with the development of the guard and wing players for the Greyhounds during her time as a graduate assistant following a three-year ENMU playing career of her own from 2015-18. Connor’s best season was as a junior (2016-17), when the Hounds qualified for the program’s first Division II National Tournament appearance and she was named a first team all-LSC, all-defensive team and all-academic team selection.

“It was an absolute no-brainer for me to promote Mikaehla Connor into the new position as an assistant coach,” Prock said. “She has been there pretty much from the beginning with me here at Eastern New Mexico as a player, and was one of the main reasons for our turnaround as a program. The three years she competed with us as a Greyhound she did with extreme intensity and class on and off the court, and was in short an ideal student-athlete.”

She finished her Greyhound career with the sixth-most starts in program history (84) and the fourth-highest offensive rebound total (158) for her career as well. She averaged 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a Greyhound, appearing in 84 games for her career, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree of science from Eastern New Mexico in 2018.

“After her playing career she moved into our graduate assistant spot and has done an outstanding job,” Prock said. “She earned the young ladies respect in our program as a coach immediately and they have all grown to love and admire her greatly. When we told the ladies that we were promoting her to the assistant position the players were extremely pleased and excited. We have no doubt the excellence that we have had in that position will continue, and are extremely excited about the future of the program.”

Connor graduated from Eastern this past spring, with a master’s degree in sports administration. She will assume her full-time position beginning July 1.