Kevin Griffin enters his eighth season as the helm of women’s basketball program at Eastern Mennonite University. He is the second-most winning coach in EMU history with a record of 116-65 and was named the 2006-07 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in just his second season after leading the Lady Royals to a 17-8 overall mark and a 15-5 record in the ODAC. Griffin has guided EMU to the ODAC Tournament every year, with his women racking up a 22-4 record last year, the second-best in program history.

With a young roster, Griffin's Royals finished the 2011-12 regular season tied with Virginia Wesleyan for the ODAC title at 17-3.  They lost in the ODAC Tournament semifinals to eventual-champion Guilford.  It was just the fourth time in EMU history that the women notched 20 or more wins.

Griffin, a 1993 graduate of EMU, returned to his alma mater after 12 years of coaching experience at various levels. Most recently prior to EMU, he had been at Delsea High School in Franklinville, N.J. where he served as assistant boys’ basketball coach during the 2003-04 season. He stepped up to head coach for the 2004-05 season.

Griffin played his senior season under then new coach Tom Baker. He started 24 games as a point guard and led the team with 4.3 assists per game. Griffin received his degree in Health and Physical Education with a minor in coaching.

Following EMU, Griffin spent the 1993-94 season as an assistant coach at Chesapeake Junior College in Wye Mills, Md. During the summer of 1994, he played for the Athletes in Action Summer Tour in the Philippines with head coach Morris Milhousky of Bryan College where he helped the team to a 13-2 record. He also coached boys’ basketball at Easton Middle School from 1993-95 where he taught health and physical education.

In 1995, Griffin moved to Lancaster, Pa. where he spent two seasons as assistant boys’ basketball coach at Lancaster Mennonite High School. He also taught health, physical education, and math while also serving as athletic director at New Danville Mennonite School.

After his stop in Lancaster, Griffin took a teaching position in health and physical education at Main Road School in Newfield, N.J. At the same time, Griffin coached in Chester, Pa. at The Christian Academy, where he was an assistant for three years. During that three-year span the team posted a record of 80-6. He was then named the head coach for two years.

Throughout his coaching career, Griffin has directed and assisted at numerous co-ed high school basketball camps and clinics throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. He has also worked several collegiate camps, including Virginia Military Institute, St. Joseph’s University, Messiah College, Robert Morris University, and Eastern Mennonite University. He also attended the Roy Williams Coaching Clinic in 2004 at the University of North Carolina.

“I hope to continue some of the recent success of the program,” Griffin said. “I’m following two very successful coaches who have done a good job with the program. Hopefully we can keep things going with the current players, and I can use some of my people skills and my contacts to keep recruiting quality players and continue to build the program.”

Griffin resides in Broadway, Va., with his wife Ruth and their daughter Jasmine and son Jeremiah.

Eugene Baltimore returns for his second season with the women's basketball program at Eastern Mennonite.

Eric Payne enters his tenth year as an assistant women's basketball coach. Payne, who played basketball at EMU during the 1987-88 season, helped coach the Lady Royals to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen during his first year as an assistant in 2004.

Payne has coached in the Augusta County Women's Recreational League and is employed at Stuarts Draft High School in Special Education. Working at EMU as a coach has allowed Payne to help players "reach their goals on the basketball court."

Payne currently lives in Harrisonburg with his wife Carolyn and has two sons, Isaiah and Justus, and a step-daughter, Julia.

The 2012-13 season will be the ninth for Jennifer Thompson with the EMU women's basketball program.

Thompson played four years of basketball at James Madison University, where she helped the Dukes to three appearances in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. She graduated from JMU with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education with an endorsement in health and driver education.

Since graduating from JMU, Thompson has been teaching health, physical education, and driver education at Harrisonburg High School for 17 years. She coached junior varsity girls' basketball for three years, assisted the varsity basketball team for four years, coached volleyball for seven years, and guided girls' tennis for three seasons.

"I enjoy working with young people and teaching them not only basketball but how being part of a team can help them in other areas of their lives," Thompson said of her role as a coach. "I would hope that they see basketball as an opportunity to improve themselves, their skills, and to work with others who share the love of the game."

Thompson lives in Harrisonburg with her husband Grant and children Garrett and Kendall.