GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Women's Basketball head coach Tandy Bradford was officially welcomed to the Tusculum University community at Tuesday's introductory press conference held at the Brotherton Board Room in the Meen Center for Math and Science on the TU campus.
Local and regional media representatives were present for the press conference which was also attended by Tusculum students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Vice President for Athletics Josh Ealy spoke briefly to the audience as he reviewed the interview and coaching search process while discussing the qualities he was looking for and found in Coach Bradford.
"Our team is hungry for success and they indicated that in our meetings and discussions," Ealy said. "The qualities we were looking for in our next coach: competitor, real, genuine, family-first culture, high energy, player's coach, authentic, leader of women, mentor, teacher, and program builder. These were the things we were looking for and we got every single one and more in our new head coach."
Bradford brings a strong resume with her to the Greeneville campus and has over 30 years of coaching experience at the NCAA, NAIA, junior college, high school and AAU levels.
She served as the head coach at Lourdes University for the past five seasons. She inherited a 5-14 team at the Sylvania, Ohio school and grew the program into a winner which posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns including this year's 22-8 squad. The Gray Wolves finished third in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference while advancing to the WHAC Tournament semifinals.
She led Lourdes to a WHAC Tournament title in 2025 as they advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history. The team finished 22-11 overall and 16-8 in conference play.
During her time at Lourdes, she mentored 11 All-Conference honorees, while also boasting 27 WHAC All-Academic Team members as her teams consistently posted a GPA over 3.50.
"My family and I are very excited to be at Tusculum and to be a part of the Greeneville community," Bradford said. "We were looking for a school that is invested in women's basketball and we found that here at Tusculum."
Prior to Lourdes, she spent six seasons as the head coach at St. Ursula Academy, where she led the Arrows to their first winning season in 14 years. She led St. Ursula to a top-three finish in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference each of her last two seasons while guiding the program to their first postseason win in 10 years.
The Hutchinson, Kansas native began her coaching career at NCAA Division II Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1998 where she spent five seasons, two years as an assistant coach and the last three as head coach. While at Kentucky Wesleyan, she served as senior woman's administrator and supervised the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She also coached the Panthers women's golf team for two seasons. In 2002, she was named the Regional Female Coach of the Year.
Following Kentucky Wesleyan, she served on the coaching staff at the University of Toledo where she was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2003-2005 at the NCAA Division I program. In her two seasons there, she helped the Rockets to a pair of top-four finishes in the Mid-America Conference.
She moved onto the Georgia Tech staff for two years where the Yellow Jackets posted a 37-27 record. In 2006-07, she helped the Ramblin' Wreck to a 22-12 season as Tech advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I am very appreciative to the search committee, Josh Ealy and (TU president) Dr. Scott Hummel, who clearly communicated their vision for the success of our women's basketball program," Bradford added.
She began her collegiate playing career with two years at Highland Community College before transferring to Thomas More College for her final two seasons. While at Highland CC, she was a two-sport athlete where she lettered in basketball and volleyball. At Thomas More, she served as team captain and earned the Most Improved Player Award as a senior on the basketball team. She graduated from Thomas More in 1997 with a degree in English and secondary education.
She is married to Josh Bradford, who currently serves as the associate director of athletics and head baseball coach at Lourdes University. They have one son, Blake, who is in his senior season on the baseball team at the University of West Georgia.
Tusculum University is the home of seven conference women's basketball championships, four district and region titles and 10 national tournament appearances.
