Steven Rhodes will be in his second year as an assistant head coach of the USC Upstate women's basketball program in the 2023-2024 season.
During his first year coaching the Spartans, the team went 11-20 overall and had a 7-11 conference record. Upstate began the year playing top teams such as West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt University, and UNC. When conference play started, the Spartans began with the best start in program history with three wins right off the bat over Charleston Southern, Radford and the program's first ever win over High Point. Upstate was able to secure a spot in the Big South Basketball Championship where they made it to the quarterfinals
Rhodes was announced to the Upstate women's basketball coaching staff in June of 2022. Rhodes joins USC Upstate with a sense of familiarity with the Big South Conference as he comes from North Carolina A&T. At N.C. A&T, Rhodes served as an assistant coach for the Aggies since August of 2020, helping lead the team to a MEAC Regular Season Championship in 2021, as well as to the MEAC Tournament Championship and an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Prior to his time at N.C. A&T, Rhodes spent one year at Radford University as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2020, he helped lead the team to a second-place finish in the Big South as well as implementing "family time" and an inaugural team retreat for bonding. While at Radford, Rhodes designed a yearlong calendar for recruit fliers and packets, signed a class of five incoming freshmen, coordinated all recruit visits and itineraries, and led weekly meetings to examine the program's focus and evaluate direction.
Before his time in the Big South, Rhodes worked with Williams from 2017 to 2019 at Belmont Abbey College, acting as Williams' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. While at Belmont Abbey, Rhodes helped Williams push the team to a 67-22 record through three seasons, won a Conference Carolinas Regular Season Championship for the first time as a program in 18 years, and made a Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship for the first time as a program in 15 years. At Belmont Abbey, Rhodes established his "family time" program to promote the team and cultural building, developed scouting reports on paper, through film, and on the court, and acted as the liaison of academics, helping the team earn the highest GPA in program history and on campus (3.59).
Rhodes graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington first in 2014 with his Bachelor of Arts in Recreation, Sport Leadership, & Tourism Management and then in 2016 with his Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. While attending UNC Wilmington, Rhodes served as the head manager and graduate assistant for the women's basketball team. In that role, Rhodes oversaw the team's media and created social media content, designed flyers for camps, recruits, and specific players, developed team scouting reports, created individual workout plans, managed team practices, and assisted in camps and recruiting.
