ACU athletics and women’s basketball head coach Julie Goodenough have agreed to a four-year contract extension that will run into the 2019-2020 season.
Other terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“I’m getting the chance to do what I’ve always wanted to do: coach basketball at the highest level at an intentionally Christian university in West Texas,” Goodenough said. “I appreciate so much the confidence and support that Dr. Phil Schubert and Lee De Leon have given me and our program. They’re excited about winning championships just like we all are, but they also want our players to grow spiritually and academically, and that’s the opportunity we’re going to give each of our current and future players.”
Goodenough is coming off her most successful year as leader of ACU women’s basketball. She helped guide the Wildcats to a 26-3 overall record, which ranks second-best in program history, behind the 31-2 record listed in 1995-1996. The Wildcats were also 17-1 in Southland Conference play and went on a 14-game winning streak that stretched over the course of two months.
Behind Goodenough’s up-tempo offense, the Wildcats led the league in points (75.8), three-pointers made (7.8) and rebounds (41) per game during the season. ACU also were second in the conference in scoring margin (+13.8) and rebounds per game (15).
The Wildcats recorded the third highest three-point percentage as a team at 42 percent and used the deep ball regularly throughout the season. The women were sixth in the Southland at 33 percent as a team from three and made 26 more treys than any other team in the league (227) and attempted 35 more over the year (35).
Defensively, Goodenough also instilled a strong work ethic among her players and it showed. ACU’s 62 points per game allowed to opponents ranked third in the league and the Wildcats 37 percentage from the field was second. And while shooting efficiently from the three-point arc, the Wildcats held opponents to 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc, which led the conference.
In her four years at ACU, she is 82-34 and recorded her 600th career win in the Wildcats’ 91-39 win over University of the Southwest on Nov. 23.
Goodenough was awarded the Southland Conference Coach of the Year Award, her second coaching award in her time with ACU. Goodenough was named the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 when she led the Wildcats to a 21-7 and 16-4 conference record in her first season at the helm for ACU women’s basketball. It was the final season of Div. II athletics for the Wildcats, and the 16-4 Lone Star Conference record was enough to claim a share of the regular season conference title.
With over 20 years of coaching experience in Div. I, II and III, Goodenough established a reputation as one of the top mid-major women’s basketball head coaches in the nation. From 1993-2002, Goodenough led the Hardin-Simmons women’s basketball program to a 188-54 and was inducted into the HSU Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. She spent the next three years at Oklahoma State and went 23-61. Goodenough then moved to Div. I Charleston Southern from 2006-2012. She recorded a 78-105 record in six years at the helm before returning to Abilene.
