BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — Ashley Anderson’s love affair with basketball has taken her all over the world.
Although she got her start in Alabama, her career has taken her to Alaska, China and Oman.
Now, Anderson is taking her experience to Loachapoka High School after being announced as the school’s eighth head girls basketball coach.
Anderson takes over for former head coach Sabrina Mulligan, who retired at the end of the 2025-26 school year, and will lead the Lady Indians onto the court for the first time when the season opens in November.
With a background that includes her first coaching job at Anniston High School’s championship-winning girls program, connecting players of different backgrounds at international schools and a recently completed doctorate in psychology, Anderson brings a unique perspective to LHS.
She said she has spent the summer getting acquainted with her new players through icebreakers, one-on-one meetings and a parents’ night.
“They should expect greatness, and that doesn’t just mean in the win-loss column,” Anderson said of what fans can expect this upcoming season. “It starts with small details. When someone gets subbed out of the game, everybody stands up.”
Anderson said building a “sisterhood” is central to her approach, with an emphasis on communication and accountability on and off the court.
Core to her coaching philosophy is her “E.A.T. > Excuses” mantra, with the acronym standing for “effort, attitude and toughness.”
She acknowledged that her style, including the intensity of her practices and her attendance expectations, will differ from what players have mostly grown accustomed to.
An Alexander City native and 2009 graduate of Benjamin Russell High School, Anderson played basketball but did not compete collegiately.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Jacksonville State University, followed by a master’s in school counseling and recently completed a Ph.D. in psychology through National University.
Her coaching career began under Eddie Bullock, the longtime Anniston girls basketball coach who led the Lady Bulldogs to the program’s first state championship.
Anderson, who was on Bullock’s staff during a run that saw AHS win a state championship in 2020 and make the state tournament four times, credited him as being her biggest coaching influence.
“He poured into the girls, not just on the court, off the court,” Anderson said, describing practices that often opened with 30 minutes to an hour of conversation about life. “I credit him for me being the coach that I am today.”
From Anniston, Anderson’s path turned international as she worked as a contract teacher and coach in Nanjing, China; Muscat, Oman; and Alaska.
At the International School in Muscat, she served as the junior varsity girls basketball coach, working with the children of military and healthcare families from around the world.
“That was very different, challenging, but fun,” Anderson said of coaching students from a range of backgrounds and faiths.
Most recently, Anderson coached at Alexander City Middle School where she was the head eighth-grade boys basketball coach and also coached linebackers with the football team.
Then, the Loachapoka job opened when Mulligan retired and the school posted a physical education teacher position.
Anderson said she had grown familiar with the school over the past several years while coaching AAU basketball in the area and had long hoped to land there.
“Once I first got to Loachapoka to coach AAU, it always felt like home,” Anderson said. “They were so welcoming.”
Anderson said she grew up in Alexander City and used to make the drive to watch Loachapoka basketball.
“I’ve been wanting to get there,” Anderson said. “God finally opened an opportunity for me to be placed right here.”
