Huss and Banbury led the men’s and women’s teams to second consecutive Big South titles.
HIGH POINT, N.C., March 6, 2025 – High Point University announced today it has extended contracts for men’s and women’s basketball coaches Alan Huss and Chelsea Banbury. Both coaches guided HPU to a second consecutive Big South Conference regular-season championship this season.
The new deals come as the HPU men’s and women’s basketball teams head into this week’s Big South Basketball Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee, as the #1 seeds. HPU fans can watch the first two rounds of the tournament on ESPN+ and Sunday’s championship games on ESPN2.
“Coach Huss and his staff have done an extraordinary job building a winning program that is both talented and values-centered,” HPU President Nido Qubein said. “We are delighted to renew his contract and to ensure his coaching staff remains intact. Like HPU, our basketball team and their coaches are focused on being outstanding on and off the court. We are very proud of them.”
In Huss’ two seasons at the helm, he has compiled an overall record of 53-14 with a 27-5 record in the Big South to become the fastest coach in conference history to reach 50 wins in just 64 games. The Panthers have posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in the NCAA Division I era.
No other coach has done it quite like Huss has in only two seasons at HPU. The program’s first-ever two-time Big South Coach of the Year turned around an under .500 program and guided the Panthers to back-to-back outright Big South regular-season championships for the first time in school history. HPU became the first team in the Big South to win back-to-back outright regular-season titles since Coastal Carolina in 2011.
HPU posted a 26-5 record during the 2024-25 regular season, including a 14-2 record in the Big South. The 26 regular-season wins is the most in program history and tied the Big South regular-season wins record set by Coastal Carolina during the 2010-11 season.
Banbury was named the fifth Division I head coach of the HPU women’s basketball team in June 2019. Since then, she has led the Panthers to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, a Big South Conference Tournament championship and three regular-season titles.
Amid her sixth season coaching HPU, Banbury clinched the program’s third Big South regular-season championship in five years. The Panthers finished the regular season with an 18-11 overall record and 13-3 in the conference. In December, they secured their first Power 5 win under Banbury as HPU defeated the University of Central Florida, 64-60, in Orlando. With the win, HPU became the second team in Big South history to beat a Big 12 opponent.
“We are grateful for Coach Banbury’s leadership and excited to renew her contract,” Qubein said. “Chelsea leads a great basketball program and shares our university’s values.”
On Jan. 8, Banbury earned her 100th career win as the Panthers coach with a 78-51 victory over Charleston Southern in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. She is the fastest coach in the HPU Division I era to reach 100 wins and the third-fastest in Big South history.