Wiley AD Gonzalez brings in Texan Gardner as Associate Head Softball Coach
After competing in 2024-25 as a club team, the Wiley University softball team gears up for its first varsity season in 20 years with Director of Athletics Rafael Gonzalez and Associate Director of Athletics and Interim Head Softball Coach Kendrick Biggs announcing the appointment of Jour'Dan Gardner as Associate Head Softball Coach.
"I think Coach Gardner will be a great addition to our staff," Gonzalez said. "She built a quality program at Lancaster High School. She has great enthusiasm and I think she's what we need as we are getting ready to launch softball at Wiley University."
"She understands the challenges of starting a team and what it takes to build a winning program," said Biggs, who also serves as head baseball coach. "I believe she will use what she learned to help create a solid program here."
Gardner joins the Wildcats' coaching staff after spending 10 years as head softball and volleyball coach at Lancaster High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
"I'm excited, this is a different level," Gardner said. "I get to pick out the ladies, who you think are experienced and ready for the next level. I'm looking forward to getting to know the returning players and helping them develop as players and mature young women."
Gardner has firsthand experience in starting a program, as she built Lancaster's softball program from the ground up.
"When I first arrived, they didn't know how to put a glove on," Gardner said. "We made steady improvements from year to year. In my sixth season, we reached the state playoffs for the first time in program history."
Gardner was a dual-sport athlete at Texas College, competing in both volleyball and softball. In four seasons, she won eight games and struck out 223 batters. On the volleyball court, she was one of the leader Steer's top attackers with 125 kills and a .226 attacking percentage in 2012. She graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice. Gardner is engaged to Courtney Jones and set to wed in October.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats, visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/sball/index.
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 13 varsity sports, women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, softball and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
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