Charleston Southern University Athletics

Fred Applin wrapped up his eighth season as the head coach of the CSU women’s basketball team after assuming the mantle of the 15th coach in program history in 2012 after serving as an assistant with East Carolina. CSU is the second head coaching position for Applin after serving as the bench boss at Big South newcomer Hampton from 1995-97. Applin also brings plenty of coaching experience at the Power 5 level to CSU with time at North Carolina, Wake Forest, Texas, and Washington in the ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12.

During his time at CSU, Applin has led the Bucs to the Big South semifinals in 2017 and 2019 - as well as an appearance in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). He enters the 2020-21 season with four 10-win seasons in the last five years, while tying the program record for single season wins with 18 in 2017. CSU also has won a Big South Conference Tournament game each of the last three seasons - a feat they haven't accomplished since collecting wins in five-straight tournaments between 1998 and 2002.

The Bucs have also garnered numerous Big South accolades under Applin's guidance with eight total athletes - Lakeitha Alston, Erin Bratcher, Alyssa Mann, Ke'Asia Jackson, Anna Webster, Kirklin Kirkpatrick, Carra Coy and Tatum Jarvis - receiving recognition.

Applin boasts in impressive resume with experience in the ACC, Big 12, Pac 12 and Conference USA. He arrives in Charleston after spending two seasons in Greenville, N.C., where he was an assistant under head coach Heather Macy at East Carolina University. Applin served as the recruiting coordinator for the Pirates, corresponding with potential student-athletes, parents and high school and AAU coaches. He also assisted in all areas of the program, including scouting, coaching, academic support and game preparation. 

A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the WBCA and Black Coaches’ Association, Applin dedicates time to his teams’ academic and community service efforts as well. Two of his teams in particular – ECU and Hampton – have been honored for their work in the classroom, as both teams boasted the highest team GPAs in respective program histories during Applin’s tenure.

A 1985 graduate of Elon College, Applin competed in both football and track & field for the Phoenix and was a member of the NAIA National Championship football team. He went on to earn his master’s degree in therapeutic recreation from North Carolina Central University in 1989. Applin and wife Cora have three children; daughters Anaiah and Hillary and son Michael.

Fred Applin's Career at CSU

• Year number seven under Applin saw the Bucs make another Big South semifinal run as they upset No. 2 seed High Point on their home floor in the quarterfinals action as well as a three-game season sweep of USC Upstate in their first round win inside the Buc Dome. The 2018-19 season was the fourth-straight campaign in which the Bucs reached double digit wins as they came within minutes of knocking off both Florida and Georgia of the SEC before a late season surge that saw nine wins in the months of February and March.
• Applin's sixth season at the helm saw another 10-win campaign. CSU finished the season 11-20 overall and made the Big South quarterfinals after defeating Longwood in the First Round 72-62. As a squad, the Bucs sat second in the Big South in blocked shots (4.0 bpg), third in scoring (62.7 ppg) and offensive rebounds (11.9 offensive rpg), fourth in three-point field goals made (5.0 per game), fifth in field goal percentage (.396), field goal percentage defense (.389), three-point field goal percentage (.313) and three-point field goal defense (.293).
• Year five has been the most successful to this point and saw the Bucs advance to the postseason for the first time since 2012. Charleston Southern advanced to the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) after making an appearance in the Big South Conference Championship semifinals. The 18-win season from Applin and the Bucs tied the program record for single-season wins joining the 1998-99 team as the lone two squads to reach the 18-win mark.
• CSU has seen individual standout performances each season with Applin at the helm while the unit as a whole has progressed to double-digit wins in each of the past three seasons despite playing some of the region's best Power 5 foes - Clemson, Florida, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, West Virginia and Wake Forest,
• Eight student-athletes have been recognized by the Big South during Applin's tenure ranging from preseason All-Big South to Player of the Week, to All-Tournament honors.

• Prior to his time in Greenville, Applin was an assistant at the University of Washington, where he also served as the recruiting coordinator.
• His 2008 recruiting class was ranked in the top 15 for HoopGurlz.com and was ranked one of the top five in the then-Pac-10 by the same organization.  In addition to his collegiate coaching resume, Applin did some advance scouting for the Washington Mystics in the summer of 2008 and the Atlanta Dream in the summer of 2009. The Dream advanced to the 2009 WNBA Playoffs.
• From 2004-07, Applin was the Associate Head Coach at Wake Forest University, where his recruiting classes were also highly touted. In 2006, his recruits ranked in the top 30 by Blue Star Basketball Report and in the top 25 of All-Star Girls Report’s rankings. He also helped guide the Demon Deacons to the Elite 8 of the 2005 WNIT.
• While serving as an assistant at the University of Texas (1998-2004), Applin signed three McDonald All-Americans (Nina Norman, Tiffany Jackson and Kalee Carey) as well as four Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/Nike All-Americans (Norma, Jackson, Carey and Erneisha Bailey). FOUR of his players – Jamie Carey, Tiffany Jackson, Stacy Stephens and Edwina Brown – went on to play in the WNBA. Brown was the 2000 The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition.
• Applin was recognized by the Women's Basketball Journal as one of the nation's top assistant coaches in its 1998-99 coaching poll. During his six years at Texas (1998-2004), the Longhorns reached the NCAA Sweet 16 three straight years (2002-04) and advanced to the Women’s Baskeetball Final Four in 2003. That season, Texas also won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, while the 2004 squad won the league regular season title.
• Applin spent the first five years of his career at the University of North Carolina. While in Chapel Hill where he served as the recruiting coordinator for the nationally-ranked Tar Heels. Applin signed All-American standouts Sylvia Crawley, Tonya Sampson and Charlotte Smith, as well as All-America two-sport star Marion Jones, who went on to become a U.S. Olympic and World Championship sprint and long jump gold medalist. Crawley, Sampson and Smith all went on to play in the ABL (American Basketball League), while Smith and Crawley played in the WNBA.
• 1987-88 Served as Volunteer Assistant Coach under Coach Randy Wiel University North Carolina Men’s Basketball JV Program.