Fred Applin enters his second season with the Eagles in 2022-23 as he joined the NCCU women's basketball coaching staff in June of 2021. He has been coaching for over 30 years and has spent the nine years prior to NCCU as the head women’s basketball coach at Charleston Southern University. He also served as head coach for former MEAC member Hampton University for two seasons.
“Having a mature and veteran coach by my side, with such high character and knowledge of the game, assures us bountiful measures of success,” said Stafford-Odom. “Fred is such an outstanding and articulate resource for basketball. His NC roots and decades of bi-coastal coaching experiences will help leap us in recruiting and game preparation. I proudly bring 'Coach App' in as associate head coach of this program. His loyalty, attention to detail and ability to remain purposeful in player development is an amazing attribute.”
During his time at CSU, Applin led the Bucs to the Big South Conference semifinals in 2017 and 2019 - as well as an appearance in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). He tied the program record for single-season wins with 18 in 2017 and won a BSC Tournament game in three consecutive seasons.
Applin boasts in impressive resume with experience in the ACC, Big 12, Pac 12 and Conference USA. He has additional coaching experience at East Carolina University, University of Washington, Wake Forest University, University of Texas, University of Houston and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the WBCA and Black Coaches’ Association, Applin dedicates time to his teams’ academic and community service efforts as well. Two of his teams in particular – ECU and Hampton – have been honored for their work in the classroom, as both teams boasted the highest team GPAs in respective program histories during Applin’s tenure.
A 1985 graduate of Elon University, Applin competed in both football and track & field for the Phoenix and was a member of the NAIA National Championship football team. He went on to earn his master’s degree in therapeutic recreation from NCCU in 1989.
Applin and wife Cora have three children; daughters Anaiah and Hillary and son Michael.
