First year Head Men's Basketball Coach Willard Coker was named CIAA Men's Basketball of the Year. Coker was an assistant coach for 23 years and a 4-year basketball letter winner at Virginia Union University.
During his tenure as a player, the Panthers captured 2 CIAA Championships, 1 Regional Championship and 1 NCAA Division II National Championship (1980).
As an assistant coach, Coker helped to guide the Panthers to 2 National Championships, 19 NCAA Tournament Appearances and 10 CIAA Championships.
Coker and the Panthers finished the 2008-09 season 1st in the Eastern Division, but fell short to Johnson C. Smith in the CIAA Championship game. They made a NCAA Atlantic Regional Appearances finishing with a 21-7 overall record.
