By James Summerlin, Sports Editor
Kayla Hudson, former graduate assistant and player for the Lady Bulldogs basketball team, has been named an assistant coach for the Lady Bulldogs.
Hudson takes over responsibilities that assistant coach Katie Woodruff had filled before. Woodruff now becomes the women’s compliance officer for Union, a position required for NCAA schools.
In 2011, Hudson served as a graduate assistant. In the previous four years, Hudson played on two national championship teams and won four straight regular season conference titles as a Lady Bulldog.
Hudson will continue to help with recruiting and study game film like she did in the past, but she will now have a bigger plate. Some of the responsibilities Woodruff handled that Hudson now will take over, such as mail-outs, sometimes go unnoticed by the general public.
“There are so many things Coach K (Woodruff) does behind the scenes that nobody knows about,” Hudson said. “I have a new appreciation for everything she did when I was a player that I am aware of now.”
Teammates say they enjoy playing for Hudson because of her ability to build relationships. That attribute and her competitive spirit encourage the team and make it easy to play for her.
“Her competitive spirit extends to everyone,” said Rebecca Sharpe, junior engineering major. “She challenges us to do our best. She has that kind of competitive nature, so we want to compete for her.”
Hudson now joins other coaches who are trying to learn new rules and regulations related to the NCAA. Hudson said the move will be an adjustment that takes work, but one that will be worth the move in the long run.
“(The transition) is a huge adjustment, and we are all learning new things about it,” Hudson said. “I think it is going to be great for our school, and we have three years to transition into that. I think we are headed in the right direction.”
