Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
The Official Website of the TENNESSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
  • CHATTANOOGA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    CHATTANOOGA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • CLEVELAND STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    CLEVELAND STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • COLUMBIA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    COLUMBIA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • DYERSBURG STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    DYERSBURG STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • JACKSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    JACKSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • MOTLOW STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    MOTLOW STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • TCCAA

    TCCAA

  • PELLISSIPPI STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    PELLISSIPPI STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • ROANE STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    ROANE STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • VOLUNTEER STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    VOLUNTEER STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

  • WALTERS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

    WALTERS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

WALTERS' DAVE KRAGEL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT; COLEMAN NAMED INTERIM HEAD COACH

WALTERS' DAVE KRAGEL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT; COLEMAN NAMED INTERIM HEAD COACH

After 43 years on the bench, Walters State's Dave Kragel has announced his retirement as the Lady Senator's head coach.  His retirement becomes official on June 30th.  Long time assistant Jasmin Coleman will take over on an interim basis for the 2020-21 season as Walters will plan a national search in hiring a long term replacement.

Kragel will leave a legacy at not only Walters State, but the TCCAA and NJCAA history.  He is the NJCAA all time leader in coaching wins as he finishes with a 1009-281 overall record in his 43 years.  The Lady Senator trophy case is full as they have secured 15 Eastern Division Championships, 16 Region VII titles, and 11 TCCAA crowns.  Under Kragel, the Lady Senators went to the NJCAA National Tournament a total of 16 times.

Kragel went back and forth about his decision this past year.  "I'll be 66 in august and I thought I'd like to spend some time with my grandkids and my wife (Sharlene).  I haven't had a real Thaksgiving or Christmas in a long time.  I would always take off on Christmas and go recruiting.  Thanksgiving, we'd always be playing in a tournament somewhere.  My grandkids are of the age that I can't go and watch them play like I would like to.  It's all been weighing heavy on me.  It seemed like the thing to do."

Coleman will step into the position as an interim or an audition to be the full time head coach this upcoming season.  A South Carolina native, she came Walters as a player in 2006.  A few years after graduating from Jacksonville University, she returned to the Morristown to become Kragel's full time assistant prior to the 2011-2012 season. In her time since joining the program, the Lady Senators won eight straight NJCAA Region VII championships and nine straight TCCAA regular season titles.  For three years while still serving as  a basketball assistant, she was put in charge of the Walters State volleyball program from its birth.  She won three straight Region VII championships before handing off the reins to one of her first players, Megan Blaylock.