Brooke Rhodes begins her second season on the Central Arkansas staff to begin her collegiate coaching career after a successful playing career at Southern Miss and Delta State in which her teams went 96-32 (.744).
Her impact on the Central Arkansas program was immediately evident, as the team improved by 11 wins from the previous season and would go on to a historic season as they earned their first D-I NCAA Tournament berth after winning a program-record 28 games, broke the program record for regular-season wins with 26 and Southland Conference wins with 16, going undefeated on the road in conference play for the first time in program history and putting together an impressive 15-1 record away from home, winning 15 straight road and neutral games after an early-season loss at No. 4 Tennessee – the nation's 4th-longest streak in 2015-16 behind only UConn, South Carolina and Colorado State.
After winning its first Southland Conference tournament, Central Arkansas received a 14-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the highest for a Southland Conference team since 2007. The 28 wins was also the most for a Southland team since 2000, and was the 4th-highest win total in league history. Central Arkansas spent a large portion of the season ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25, peaking at No. 18, and finished the season with the 2nd highest RPI among Arkansas Division I teams, finishing ahead of Arkansas, Little Rock, and UA-Pine Bluff and among the national top 100. The Sugar Bears were one of the nation's top defensive team, leading the country in scoring defense for much of the defense, before entering the NCAA Tournament ranked 9th nationally and finishing with a school record 51.8 ppg allowed, the 3rd-best mark in Southland Conference history.
A team captain on a 25-win, WNIT Elite Eight team at Southern Miss in 2014-15, Rhodes was 2nd in Conference USA and ranked among the national Top 40 in 3-point percentage and was the team's 3rd-leading scorer, leading the Golden Eagles in scoring in five games and in rebounds twice.
A prolific shooter throughout her career, Rhodes – a Daktronics All-South Region selection in 2012 – finished her time in uniform with averages of 36.7 percent from 3-point range and 81.3 percent at the free throw line, including a career-best 85.7 percent during her sophomore season to lead the Gulf South Conference. In high school was a two-time statewide Player of the Year at East Rankin Academy, and averaged 21.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game during her senior season.
Rhodes earned her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry at Southern Miss, and is completing her master's at USM in Sports Coaching Education this year. She has studied under a pair of highly-regarded veterans in women's college basketball, as she was recruited to Delta State by Sandra Rushing and finished her career at Southern Miss under Joy Lee-McNelis, the two of whom have combined for nearly 900 wins during their collegiate head coaching careers.
