Sharon Baldwin-Tener came to East Carolina University with the best of credentials and the reputation of being a program-maker. In her six years with the Lady Pirate Program, she has not disappointed. Given the task of resurrecting the women's program, the program's ninth head coach eagerly jumped in immediately and has quickly transformed ECU into a championship caliber team. The 2002-03 campaign was the bright beginning to Baldwin-Tener's career at East Carolina and showed immediately the impact that she was going to have on the Lady Pirate program. She took a team that had won just six games the year prior to her arrival and doubled its win total. Baldwin-Tener led her team to 12 victories and the program's first ever appearance in the Conference USA Tournament. Highlights from that first season include victories over Southeastern Conference foe Alabama in the championship game of the US Cellular Classic in Greenville and perennial NCAA Tournament teams Memphis and Louisville. The Pirates also played in the championship game of all three regular season tournaments in which they participated that season. As far as Conference USA play goes, ECU, on two separate occasions, won back-to-back conference games, including a road sweep of UAB and USF. In addition, in the C-USA Tournament, East Carolina played eventual tournament champion TCU to 10 points, its closest margin of victory until the championship game. Baldwin-Tener's presence was seen not only in an increased number of wins, but also in marked improvement of player development. Jennifer Jackson blossomed in the up-tempo style that was implemented at ECU by Baldwin-Tener. Under the coach's tutelage, Jackson went from averaging just under six points a game as a freshman to 18 points a game as a sophomore. In addition, Jackson became the first ECU player to be named All-Conference USA and first to be a C-USA player-of-the-week. She was named to the C-USA third-team for the 2002-2003 season. The 2003-04 season experienced no letdown as Baldwin-Tener continued to build on her early success at East Carolina. She led her team to a 14-14 record and a second consecutive appearance in the C-USA Tournament. It was a year of improved team and personal performance. Baldwin-Tener's second season was also highlighted by some outstanding moments. The Lady Pirates came out of the gates strong, winning 14 of their first 18 games. They also had a tremendous run through the end of December and the month of January as they won eight consecutive games. This included wins over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest, in-state rival UNC-Wilmington and WNIT participants Arkansas State, USF and Charlotte. ECU also took No. 22 ranked TCU to four overtimes, currently the longest game in C-USA history. Baldwin-Tener's squad was known for their aggressive, up-tempo style of play and the level at which they competed for 40 minutes. Though often outsized, they out-rebounded 16 of 28 opponents. This helped the Lady Pirates rank 22nd in the nation in rebounding margin, out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 6.3 per game. During the 2003-04 season it became obvious that Baldwin-Tener became among the best in the country in terms of developing post players. Senior center Courtney Willis had arguably the best season ever for a Lady Pirate. She became East Carolina's first-ever first team All-C-USA performer. She averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds a game and had 14 double-doubles on the season while also finishing in the top four in C-USA in five different statistical categories; scoring (fourth), rebounding (third), field goal percentage (fourth), offensive rebounds (first) and defensive rebounds (fourth). In addition, her 40 points and 21 rebounds against TCU were the second-best point output and greatest number of rebounds in a game in C-USA for the 2003-04 season. Baldwin-Tener's development of players was not limited to those that play inside as junior guard Jennifer Jackson again enjoyed one of the best seasons in Conference USA. Jackson was named Third-Team All-C-USA for the second consecutive season and also surpassed the 1,000 point mark, becoming the 19th Lady Pirate to accomplish this feat. The 2004-05 season marked Baldwin-Tener's third year at the helm of the Lady Pirate Program. It was a record setting season of sorts, as the Pirates finished eighth in the conference standings, their highest finish since joining C-USA. Baldwin-Tener also recorded her 100th victory as a head coach with a 60-47 win against Memphis (Jan. 7, 2005). It also marked their third consecutive appearance in the C-USA Tournament as the Pirates secured important wins over NCAA participant Louisville and WNIT participant USF during the regular season. Once again, Baldwin-Tener and the Lady Pirates did not shy away from competing against the best as they played one of the toughest schedules in C-USA. Thirteen of their 28 opponents, including NCAA National Champion Baylor and WNIT runner-up West Virginia, qualified for post-season play or had an RPI ranking of 100 or better. Player development continued to be one of Baldwin-Tener's focal points in her young tenure at ECU. Without a true center to hold down the front court, she molded senior Shanita Sutton into one of Conference USA's premier post players. Sutton nearly tripled her points per game total from four during her junior campaign to 11.4 as a senior. She finished 21st in the conference in scoring and eighth in field goal percentage and shots blocked. When her career ended, she ranked seventh all-time on ECU's career shot blocked list. Jennifer Jackson became the second Lady Pirate in school history to be named to an all-conference team for three consecutive seasons with her second team selection. Baldwin-Tener utilized Jackson's strong post moves and sweet shooting stroke to mold a player that finished her career as ECU's fifth-leading career scorer with 1,490 points. 2005-06 saw Baldwin-Tener and her staff continue to build a championship program. Not only did the Lady Pirates enjoy their first winning season since 2000-01, but the team also advanced to its fourth straight C-USA Tournament and posted its first tournament win in C-USA history after defeating UAB. The 17 wins in 2005-06 were the most in school history dating back to the 1991-92 season, when the team finished with a 21-8 mark. The 05-06 season was not without its records as Baldwin-Tener earned her 50th career win at East Carolina on Feb. 10 after the Lady Pirates defeated Memphis, 74-54. Baldwin-Tener also guided ECU to its 500th program victory with a 69-60 win over Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 30, 2005). For the fourth consecutive season under Baldwin-Tener, the Lady Pirates finished higher in the regular season standings than predicted by the C-USA preseason poll. In 2005-06, East Carolina was predicted to finished 12th but finished tied for sixth. Continuing her player development, Baldwin-Tener molded freshman Jasmine Young and junior transfer Cherie Mills into all-conference players in just one season. Mills finished her first season ranked among the C-USA leaders in seven statistical categories, and recorded 32 blocks on the year, the most in a single season by a Lady Pirate since 1999. Young, who tallied 153 assists on the year, finished the season ranked 27th in the nation in assists per game. Under Baldwin-Tener's watch, Young became the first player in school history to earn Freshman-of-the-Year honors. In 2006-07, Baldwin-Tener and the Lady Pirates accomplished something that had never been done in East Carolina history; they won the Conference USA Tournament Championship. For the first time in 25 years, the Lady Pirates would be represented in the field of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. Baldwin-Tener also led ECU to its first-ever bye in the C-USA Championship, securing a third-place regular season finish with a program-best 11 conference wins. The team also enjoyed the fourth-longest winning streak in the country, taking a 10-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament. Another highlight of the 06-07 season was the squad earning 19 wins, the most since 1991-92. Continuing in player development, both senior Cherie Mills and sophomore Jasmine Young repeated as second-team all-conference players. Young also earned C-USA All-Defensive Team and All-Tournament Team accolades. Breaking onto the scene was another sophomore, LaCoya Terry, who was named 2007 C-USA Tournament MVP. What Baldwin-Tener has done since her arrival at ECU has been evident to not only the ECU community, but also the nation as well. The program's RPI rating has improved 135 spots since Baldwin-Tener took over. In addition, attendance has nearly quadrupled. Prior to her arrival in 2002, Baldwin-Tener served one year as the head coach at Mercer University. At Mercer, located in Macon, Ga., Baldwin-Tener took over a program that was 6-23 during the season prior to her arrival. Her Bears went 16-13 in 2001-02, representing one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I that season. Her efforts, which included a run to the semifinals of the league tournament, earned her Atlantic Sun Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors. Her team was also successful in the classroom as four Bears earned All-Conference Academic recognition. Prior to her arrival at Mercer, Baldwin-Tener put in three years as the head coach at Life University in Marietta, Ga., where she started the NAIA program from scratch and compiled a 53-14 record in two seasons of competition. In the school's first season, the 1999-2000 campaign, Coach Baldwin-Tener led Life to a 22-11 record. Her inaugural squad advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA Tournament before losing to eventual champion Oklahoma City. Baldwin-Tener was named the Naismith Georgia NAIA/Division III Coach-of-the-Year for her efforts. In her second season at Life, the Lady Eagles began the year with a No. 7 NAIA ranking, which would only improve as the season moved along. Baldwin-Tener led her team to a 31-3 finish, including a 19-game winning streak and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the national tournament before falling to Southern Nazarene. She added more hardware to her trophy case that season as she was named the WBCA NAIA National Coach-of-the-Year, and the Naismith Georgia NAIA/Division III Coach-of-the-Year for the second straight season. Life ended the 2000-01 campaign as the No. 1 ranked team in the final NAIA poll. Baldwin-Tener got her start in the coaching field at the University of Georgia, her alma mater. She served seven seasons under Lady Bulldog coach Andy Landers. As Landers' top assistant, she gained a reputation nationally as a strong recruiter and was responsible for landing All-Americans Rachel Powell, Kedra Holland-Corn, and Coco and Kelly Miller for the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia's recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the country in 1993 by Blue Star Report and was recognized as the No. 2 class by that same publication in 1997. During her time with the program, Georgia won two Southeastern Conference Championships and advanced to the NCAA Final Four on two occasions, including the 1996 National Championship Game against the University of Tennessee. She earned the Naismith National Assistant Coach-of-the-Year award in 1996. Baldwin-Tener enjoyed a successful playing career at both the high school and collegiate levels. At Smyrna's Wills High School, she averaged 21 points as a senior in 1985 and was named the Georgia Class AAAA State Player-of-the-Year. She signed out of high school with Kennesaw State University where she played for two seasons before transferring to Georgia. At Kennesaw State, she was an all-district and all-conference selection, averaging 18 points as a freshman and 20 points as a sophomore. She is ranked 12th all-time in scoring at KSU with 831 points and her 12 steals in 1985 against Tennessee Temple is still a school record. Baldwin-Tener earned a bachelor's degree in education from Georgia in 1991 and completed her master's degree of education in 1997. She currently resides in Winterville with her husband Matt, son Luke (5) and daughter Samantha (3).
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