HOUSTON – HBU has reached agreements to three-year contract extensions with head football coach
Vic Shealy and head women's basketball coach
Donna Finnie, Director of Athletics
Steve Moniaci announced Thursday.
Both coaches' contracts were set to expire this summer, but will now run through June 2021.
"We are pleased to have Coach Shealy and Coach Finnie leading our programs for the next three years," Moniaci said. "As HBU entered the Southland Conference, both coaches were faced with the challenge of leading young programs and we continue to have the confidence they can take us where we want to go in this league. They are committed to the mission of the University, as shown by the outstanding performances of their student-athletes in the classroom."
Shealy came to HBU in 2012 to start the Huskies' football program from scratch. The Huskies played a developmental season in 2013, before playing a full Southland Conference slate the last four seasons. HBU reached a program-high four wins, three in the Southland, in 2016 and saw its first two recruiting classes – 30 seniors – play their final season in 2017. Linebacker
Garrett Dolan was a two-time All-America selection, capping a long list in a short period of time of all-conference, academic all-conference and national academic honors under Shealy's guidance.
Finnie became the first international Division I head basketball coach in NCAA history when she took over the Huskies' program in 2013 and led HBU to the Southland Conference Tournament championship game in only her second season. With the loss of several seniors after that tournament run, Finnie's roster last season consisted of 13 freshmen and sophomores. The performance of the women's basketball program academically is unmatched in the Southland Conference and has also earned national recognition. The Huskies posted the fifth-highest GPA in the nation last season, after ranking 17
th and 12
th, respectively, in the WBCA Academic Top 25 the previous two years.
