POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A success story of the Pearl River Community College women’s basketball program, former Wildcat Cotoria Blackmon is back home. Head coach Scotty Fletcher recently announced Blackmon has joined his staff ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Blackmon played under Fletcher’s guidance from 2016-18.
“Cotoria was the best teammate and voted captain when she played for me,” Fletcher said. “She set the example every day with her work ethic and commitment to being the very best she could be every day. Her teammates always had the utmost respect for her and that spoke volumes.
“She took full advantage of her time here at Pearl River and was able to gain a scholarship at the next level. She is back at a place she calls home and sharing wisdom daily with our players from her experience as a Wildcat.”
Fletcher talked about the characteristics that make Blackmon a good fit for the Wildcat coaching staff.
“She understands what it means to wear the maroon and gold proudly and will be a huge ambassador for our program and institution,” he said. “Torie is filled with positive energy and it will be radiant in recruiting, developing and coaching our young women.”
Blackmon talked about what it is going to be like on Fletcher’s staff.
“It’s going to be a great experience getting to work under coach Fletcher,” she said. “I’m so grateful for him because he gave me this opportunity out of so many other options. I’m familiar with his work style and I know that he’s about business. When it comes to basketball and getting the job done, he’s pretty great at that. He was like that when I was a player and I know he’s still like that.”
Blackmon feels that the leadership ability that Fletcher shows is something that she wants to absorb.
“Coach Fletcher displays very good leadership qualities,” she said. “To be a head coach, you have to be a great leader. He does a great job at that. He’s always appreciative and grateful. He worships the Lord first and foremost. There’s nothing I’d rather do than getting a chance to coach under him.”
Coaching at a college has always been Blackmon’s dream.
“My goal has always been to coach on the collegiate level,” she said. “When I first started coaching, I texted coach Fletcher and told him that I’d either be coaching with him or against him at some point. Now here we are a year later, and he offered me this position. I couldn’t turn it down. He’s been nothing but great to me.”
Blackmon talked about what it was like to walk back into Marvin R. White Coliseum as a member of the coaching staff.
“Walking back into this facility brought back a spark for sure,” she said. “At first I was a little bit nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect, but once I stepped back into the Coliseum and the balls started bouncing, my heart started fluttering. It brought back so many memories.”
Blackmon is excited to join the program fresh off a championship.
“I’m so excited. I’m ready to get back to it,” she said. “I hope that we can do the same thing that they did last year and bring a two-peat to this program. With him guiding the team, these good players and this coaching staff, I feel like we can accomplish this goal yet again this year.”
COACHING CAREER
Blackmon most recently was on the coaching staff at Murrah High School during the 2021-22 season. During her time with the Mustangs, Blackmon coached both the varsity and junior varsity teams. She was responsible for planning practices and developing players.
She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at William Carey University in 2020. While with the Crusaders, Blackmon assisted with several things, including player development and teaching strategies, techniques and tactics.
PLAYING CAREER
Blackmon began her basketball career at Callaway, where she averaged 5.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game over her career.
She spent the next two years at Pearl River where she was named team captain. As a freshman, Blackmon played in 21 games, averaging 1.3 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.4 steals and 0.2 assists. In 22 games as a sophomore, she scored 2.9 points per game, 0.9 rebounds per game, 0.3 assists per game and 0.2 steals per game.
After her time at Pearl River was up, Blackmon signed to continue her career at William Carey where she averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds.
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