HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall went to the Division II level to bring in its last head coach. This time around, the Thundering Herd are hiring a coach from the Division III ranks.
Director of Athletics Christian Spears has announced Juli Fulks, a highly successful coach from Transylvania University, as the ninth head coach in the history of Marshall women’s basketball.
Fulks comes to Huntington after a 10-year stint as head coach at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., where she compiled a record of 242-39. That tenure included a 91-2 record over the last three seasons, including a National Championship in 2023 and most recently, a Final Four appearance.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve Marshall University as the head women’s basketball coach,” Fulks said. “I would like to thank President Smith, Christian Spears and their entire leadership team for entrusting me and our future staff in leading the program. We will take immense pride in serving our athletes and mentoring their personal growth as students, leaders and future professionals. Go Herd!”
During the time in which Transylvania won 91 of 93 games over the last three seasons, the program went on a 64-game win streak — the third-longest all-time in Division III history.
The Marshall University Board of Governors has scheduled a meeting for Friday afternoon, and pending board approval, a press conference to introduce Fulks will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Cam Henderson Center.
“No one has a more significant impact on the student-athlete experience than their head coach, so the people we bring to Marshall have to be amazing and have to honor that opportunity,” Spears said. “Today, with the hiring of Juli Fulks, we are doing that once again. There is no doubt she is a winner — not many coaches have 400-plus wins — but what makes her so special is the culture she will create, the way she will engage with our student-athletes and the relationships she will form with them.”
Before her time at Transylvania, Fulks was the head coach at Lewis & Clark in Oregon, where she finished with a 158-104 record in 10 seasons. The team finished 5-20 her first season there in 2004-05, but had a losing mark only once more in Fulks’ tenure.
Fulks, with a career record of 400-143 as head coach, has implemented the Guest Coach Program, which offers her players the opportunity to interact with inspirational female business and community leaders who share their experiences in the world to promote courage, leadership and personal growth among the student-athletes. Individuals whom Fulks brought in as part of the Guest Coach Program at Transylvania include CEOs, Presidents, Vice Presidents and other corporate leaders.
“Coach Juli Fulks steps into the spotlight as Marshall University’s new Women’s Basketball coach, carrying with her not just a playbook, but a legacy of profound leadership and transformative success,” Marshall University President Brad D. Smith said. “Her approach goes beyond the court; it’s about mentoring young athletes and linking them with professionals, nurturing their growth into poised and impactful leaders.”
Fulks is a native of Dola, Ohio, and played at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where she was part of a Final Four team in 1997 that also won the Ohio Athletic Conference title.
She has her Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of the Cumberlands.
Fulks heavily values a detailed analytics system that has helped her teams through the years.
“Embracing a ‘Moneyball’ philosophy, she employs cutting-edge data analytics to sharpen strategy and decision-making while her focus on psychological resilience ensures her players are as mentally robust as they are physically formidable,” Smith said. “Coach Fulks isn’t just crafting a team. She’s shaping the future leaders of tomorrow.”
Fulks replaces Kim Caldwell, a National Championship-winning coach at Glenville State before her arrival in Huntington. Caldwell led the Herd to a 26-win season and Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships during her lone year in Huntington, which culminated with the program’s second appearance in a NCAA Tournament.
Caldwell recently accepted the head coaching position at Tennessee.