Chelsea Banbury was named the 14th head coach in VCU Women’s Basketball history on March 31, 2026.
Banbury served as the head coach at High Point for the past seven seasons, amassing a 140-79 overall record along with four Big South Regular Season Championships, three Big South Conference Tournament Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
“We are excited to bring Coach Banbury to VCU and welcome her and her family to Ram Nation. She is a winner who will bring a winning standard to our program,” McLaughlin said. “Chelsea has proven that she knows how to lead a program to the NCAA Tournament on multiple occasions and I look forward to her leading our program into March Madness. We share a vision of what this women’s basketball program can be and a deep belief in the importance of developing young people in all ways. Our entire university will support her efforts and I know our community will embrace her and her family.”
Banbury has most recently led High Point to three consecutive Big South Regular Season Titles as well as back-to-back Big South Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. The team went 27-6 this past season, winning the Big South Regular Season title, Big South Tournament Championship and earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
“I just want to thank Ed McLaughlin and Dr. Rao for this opportunity to lead VCU’s Women’s Basketball team. Being able to join an institution like VCU and having an opportunity to compete in the A-10 is truly a dream come true. I cannot wait to get up there, get to work and hit the ground running,” said Banbury.
Banbury has been named the Big South Coach of the Year twice, in 2020-21 and in 2023-24. She has posted 20 or more wins in four of her seven seasons at the helm including each of her last three seasons. She has posted a winning record in each of her seven seasons as a head coach.
Banbury has coached three Big South Player of the Year award winners in her seven seasons. This past season, she coached junior Macy Spencer who was named both the Big South Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Spencer led the Big South in scoring at 18.5 points per game and scored 20 or more points 15 times. She also coached 2020-21 Big South Player of the Year Skyler Curran and 2023-24 Big South Player of the Year Lauren Bevis.
High Point was extremely efficient on both ends of the floor this past season as the team led the Big South in assists, field goal percentage, blocks per game, scoring defense and scoring margin this past season. The Panthers shot an efficient 44.5 percent from the field on offense while High Point also ranked 34th nationally in field goal percentage defense at 37.2 percent.
Prior to High Point, Banbury coached at her alma mater Florida Gulf Coast for 11 seasons under current Atlanta Dream head coach Karl Smesko. Banbury spent her final five seasons serving as the associate head coach. The Eagles went 306-72 during her time on staff with a 173-13 record in conference play. The Eagles finished ranked in the top 25 twice and made the postseason every season on staff with nine regular season conference titles and six conference tournament championships.
Banbury played women’s basketball at FGCU and earned two degrees, a bachelor’s in finance in 2007 and a master’s in business administration in 2010. Banbury is a native of Fort Collins, Colo. and played basketball at Poudre High School. Banbury joins VCU along with her husband, Greg, son, Jackson, and daughter, Hartley.
