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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Ms. Rhonda McCullough
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Home Phone: -- Former Basketball: LHSAA appoints McCullough to post Becomes organization’s first female administrator Kevin Foote Originally published in the Daily Advertiser June 8, 2007 Abbeville High head girls basketball coach and assistant principal Rhonda McCullough was approved Thursday as the new LHSAA assistant commissioner at the organization’s annual executive committee meeting in Springfield. Henderson issued his recommendation of McCullough on Tuesday and McCullough was officially introduced Thursday. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity,” McCullough said. “It’s very exciting when you take on a new challenge. After talking and meeting with Mr. Henderson, he’s got terrific plans for the future. Tommy (Henry) did so much for the LHSAA and I’m convinced that Mr. Henderson is going to keep pushing it up even further. McCullough is the newcomer in many ways on the LHSAA’s staff with longtime assistant commissioners Mac Chauvin and B.J. Guzzardo still on the job. “When you have guys like Mac and B.J. with all the experience they have, I’m going to be looking to them for leadership,” she said. “I’ve always looked at myself as a team player. Whatever Mr. Henderson wants me to do to make the organization stronger – whether it’s dealing with basketball, soccer, bowling or whatever – I’m going to do to the best of my ability.” Henderson said Wednesday that the complete job descriptions haven’t been decided. “We definitely want to take advantage of the strengths of each person,” he said. “B.J. is going to be in charge of compliance. That’s a big job, so he can’t keep doing everything he’s been doing.” McCullough will also be the LHSAA’s first female commissioner. “I think that’s very big,” Henderson said. “We have 25 sports and 12 of them are female sports. “Diversity is a key to being successful.” “It’s a huge step and a bold step,” McCullough said. “I think the face of the LHSAA needed that. I commend them for taking that step.” McCullough’s qualifications for the position include 16 years as a girls basketball coach, a term as president of the state’s high school basketball coaches association, assistant principal and athletic director duties at Abbeville High and annual participation in the hosting of the Top 28 and Ladies Top 28 basketball tournaments. “It definitely says a lot about her that the coaches voted her as the president of the coaches association,” Henderson said. McCullough’s resignation with the Vermilion Parish school board was given at a meeting Thursday. She will officially begin her duties at the LHSAA office in Baton Rouge on Aug. 1. “We are going to be running a business,” she said. “I know that we’re not ever going to please everybody. I didn’t make everybody happy as a basketball coach either. You just have to be strong and have thick skin.” * * * * * * * * * * McCullough nails down 300th February 01, 2006 – Daily Advertiser ST. MARTINVILLE – The Abbeville Lady Cats wasted very little time putting the St. Martinville Lady Tigers away, taking a commanding 37-8 halftime lead en route to walking away with a 62-22 victory on Tuesday. The victory gave Lady Cats first year coach Rhonda McCullough her 300th career victory, improving her overall record to 300-130. “I’m glad that it has happened,” McCullough said. “But I’m more glad for the kids, because while 300 is nice for me, the fact is these kids have won 20 games and have taken another step toward achieving the goal they set before the season.” McCullough, who has tried to prevent her milestone from becoming a distraction to her team, was able to keep the Lady Cats in the woods until game time. * * * * * * * * * * McCullough nears 300 Coaching career of ex-UL star can reach lofty level with win tonight. Eric Narcisse Originally published in the Daily Advertiser January 31, 2006 ABBEVILLE – Abbeville High first-year girls basketball coach Rhonda McCullough has been extremely successful throughout her high school coaching career. “When I first think about getting to 300 wins, my first thought is that I feel old,” McCullough said. “When I began coaching, winning 300 games was the furthest thing from my mind. Winning 300 games is not something you ever set out to accomplish.” McCullough, who won a state title at Pitkin in 1982 and is UL’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, is in her 15th season as a head coach and began her road to 300 in the fall of 1991 as the general of the Carencro Lady Bears. McCullough, who did her student teaching at Carencro, appeared to be just what the program needed as she went on to post an overall record of 280-121, including 13 winning seasons, 11 playoff appearances and three district titles in 14 years. “All the credit has to be given to all of the athletes who came in day in and day out, willing to work hard and buying into what I was trying to do,” McCullough said. “I don’t play defense and I don’t take a single shot, so I know that I have been fortunate to coach and be associated with a great group of kids. They all believed in me and what I was trying to do and that is to win night in and night out.” But why McCullough? “Rhonda was young and passionate beyond belief,” Bellard said. “She was a workhorse. We knew the type of person and coach she was and that she would work well with the current coaches. We knew she wouldn’t be a one shot and get out of there.” McCullough, who led the Lady Bears to the postseason in her second season at the helm. And a win tonight at Abbeville (19-9) would give her a 20-win year in 12 of 15 seasons. “This is a huge accomplishment for coach McCullough,” said former Lady Bear Erika Smalley, who played under McCullough from 1991-95. “To accomplish what she has at a 5A school is a big deal. The numbers speaks for itself.” Among those thankful for McCullough’s influence is former Carencro All-State center Sarah Richey-Smith. “Coach McCullough took me under her wing and turned me into a basketball player,” said Sarah Richey-Smith, who went on to play collegiately at LSU and with the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. “I was a volleyball player and she helped me realize that I had a talent for basketball. I became a part of her life and she became a part of mine.” Neither Smith or Smalley are surprised that the Lady Cats, who are currently tied for first place in District 5-4A with St. Thomas More, are experiencing a great deal of success in McCullough’s first year. “Coach McCullough has a passion for winning,” Smalley said. “In her program, losing is not an option. I’m not at all surprised that Abbeville is successful, because of her philosophy of winning. She doesn’t accept losing and she makes it a point to instill that into her kids.” The 1997 and 1998 basketball seasons were arguably the two greatest seasons in McCullough’s coaching career. In 1997, the Lady Bears went 30-3 and 14-0 in district, while in 1998 they went 12-2 in district. Both years, the Lady Bears advanced to the Class 5A quarterfinals where they were defeated by Alaina Beard and Southwood. “It was those seasons that put Carencro on a state recognition level,” McCullough said. “That 1997 team is the only team since the district merged that has gone unbeaten through district.” Regardless of where McCullough accomplishes her 300th career victory, the people who have supported her for 15 years are extremely proud of her and they plan to be in attendance. “It doesn’t matter the place,” Smalley said. “I’m really excited for her and I plan to be in St. Martinville cheering her on.” And so will Bellard. “I was there in the beginning,” Bellard said. “And I want to be there when she gets 300. I will be there with my ‘go 300′ sign in the stands.” THE RHONDA MCCULLOUGH FILE Has enjoyed 13 winning seasons out of 15 as a head coach; Will achieve a 20-win season for the 12th time in 15 tries with one more win this year; Has enjoyed 13 winning seasons out of 15 as a head coach; round Carencro’s program with 280-121 record, including 11 playoff appearances; Is Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun women’s all-time leading 3-point shooter in a game, in a season and for a career; Won a state title as a player at Pitkin in 1982. * * * * * * * * * * * Carencro girls coach leaves Dan McDonald Originally published in the Daily Advertiser May 7, 2005 One of the area’s most successful high school basketball coaches is changing zip codes. Rhonda McCullough, head girls’ basketball coach at Carencro the last 14 years, has accepted that same position at Abbeville High. Her AHS appointment was approved Thursday night at the Vermilion Parish School Board’s regular meeting. “It was an opportunity that came along when I needed a new challenge,” said McCullough, whose Golden Bear teams had 11 20-win seasons and made the Class 5A playoffs 11 times in 14 years. “You walk into that gym (at Abbeville) and there’s two banners on the wall from the Sweet 16, so you know as a coach that those kids know what it takes to get to a championship level.” McCullough, a former standout player at the University of Louisiana, takes over an Abbeville program steeped in tradition but one that has struggled for two seasons. The Lady ‘Cats finished 13-12 this winter and went 5-7 in District 5-4A. “But they were in the Sweet 16 in 2003,” McCullough said, “and the seniors for this coming year were freshmen on that team. They know what we have to do, and I’m excited to take on the challenge of getting the program back to where it once was. “I’m also excited to work for Ralph Thibodeaux as a principal. He does a great job of getting that equal balance between academics and athletics.” McCullough led Carencro to a 19-12, 9-5 mark in District 3-5A last season, earning a playoff spot before falling to Denham Springs in the first round. That record boosted her career mark to 280-121 overall and 130-40 in district, a .765 winning percentage in league play. The Lady Bears’ program, one deep in the lower echelons of 3-5A a decade and a half ago, has made regular appearances in the state Top 10 polls with 11 final rankings in McCullough’s 14 years. She was the state’s 5A Coach of the Year in 1997 and was honored as district Coach of the Year three times. “Someone that came into this business at the age I did, to step out of college and right into a 5A school, it’s almost unheard of that someone stays in one place for 14 years,” she said. “Not many have been that fortunate in a school like this. That’s a compliment to the athletes we’ve had here and to the athletic program we have here, and I’ll always be grateful for what everyone here has done for me.” In addition to her on-court success, McCullough has served two terms on the LHSAA executive council, was selected as coordinator for the LHSAA/LHSCA All-Star Games three times, and served for two years as president of the La. High School Basketball Coaches Association along with other LHSBCA posts. She is currently secretary of that organization. As a player at UL, she became the first player in NCAA history to record 200 career three-point baskets and finished with 260 in a three-year career, setting a record in the American South Conference. It would still be a mark in the Sun Belt Conference, which absorbed the American South in 1991, if ASC records were included (the Sun Belt career record is 250). McCullough said she will continue to take care of duties and responsibilities at Carencro for the remainder of the school year, but will be driving to Abbeville after school to conduct spring practice and prepare her new team for summer workouts and team camps. “We’ll start spring practice Monday,” she said. “It’ll be busy, but there comes a time in everyone’s professional life that they need to challenge themselves.”
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