Brock named McLennan women's basketball head coach

The McLennan Community College Board of Trustees named Bill Brock the next head coach of the Highlassie Basketball program at Tuesday evening's meeting.

Brock is certainly no stranger to Central Texas basketball fans as he spent 18 seasons on Kim Mulkey's staff at Baylor University serving as an assistant coach and associate head coach. He coached at Baylor from 2000-06 before spending three seasons at Texas Tech University, and returning back to Baylor at the beginning of the 2009-10 season. During his time with the Bears, he helped lead the team to three NCAA Championships (2005, 2012 & 2019) along with a Final Four appearance in 2010 and 23 Big 12 Conference titles (12 regular season and 11 tournament). Those Baylor squads featured eight centers and forwards that tallied 43 All-America honors.

The McLennan position won't be Brock's first stint in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC). Prior to joining the Baylor staff, Brock served as the head coach at Grayson College for 13 seasons. He led the Lady Vikings to the program's first NTJCAC title during his first year in 1987-88 and a top-25 national ranking. In all, Grayson claimed 10 conference championships, two regional titles and two national tournament berths in 1996 and 2000 during Brock's tenure. He boasted a 371-50 record with the Lady Vikings including a 36-1 season and third-place finish at the 2000 NJCAA National Tournament. His teams featured 10 conference MVPs and nine All-Americans. Brock was named the conference Coach of the Year nine times and the regional Coach of the Year twice while at Grayson, and was named the 1996 National Junior College Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. During his 13-year stint, 65 Grayson student-athletes earned scholarships to continue playing at four-year schools.

Brock, a native of Durant, Oklahoma, began his coaching career as the head boys' coach in Durant from 1982-85 before serving as the assistant men's coach at East Central University from 1985-87.

Brock's coaching success has garnered him many accolades including induction to the inaugural class of the Grayson College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 and the naming of the Bill Brock Court at the beginning of the 2020-21 season. He was named a Southeastern Oklahoma State Distinguished Alumni in 2020 and inducted into the STEP Up, Inc. Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.

He and his wife Janice, have two daughters, Danika and Whitney, and four grandsons.

Brock takes over the program following Coach Ricky Rhodes' 26 years at McLennan.

"I want to thank Coach Rhodes for the years he spent here at McLennan," said Athletic Director Shawn Trochim. "I will cherish the years I spent working with him, and I wish him all the best."

"This was a national search with nearly 70 candidates applying for the position," Trochim said. "I am very honored, as well as excited to have Coach Brock join the McLennan Athletic Department as the next head women's basketball coach. The experience, knowledge, enthusiasm and excitement he will generate for the program cannot be measured. We are very lucky to have him."