South Carolina women’s basketball alum Ashley Bruner is on the move. Following a season as the associate head coach at Langston University, Bruner will be an assistant coach at Tennessee State. She joins the Tigers and head coach Candice Dupree, a former player under Dawn Staley at Temple.
After her Gamecock days, Bruner played professionally for eight seasons. She spent time playing in Ecuador, France, Italy, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Then, she got into coaching. Bruner has coached at Tuskegee, UNC-Wilmington, and Langston.
During her South Carolina women’s basketball career, Bruner was a standout. She joined the Gamecocks in Coach Staley’s second season. Following a freshman season as a reserve, Bruner was a part-time starter the next two years. She started every contest of her senior season, one in which she earned All-SEC honors.
Bruner was a fierce rebounder with the Gamecocks, especially on the offensive end. By the time she was a senior, she averaged 10.3 points and 8.1 rebounds. No. 21 tallied nine double-doubles during her final year in garnet and black.
Bruner was part of Staley’s early teams that turned the program around. After a losing record as a freshman, she helped the Gamecocks to an NIT berth and then back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. South Carolina has made it to at least the Sweet Sixteen every year since, including three National Championship wins.
