We’re talking baby talk in this episode! Emily Ragsdale is a first-time mom to a newborn son, Avonté Bryant Thomas, who made his debut on August 21, 2020. While she was expecting, Emily made the move from the Midwest to Phoenix, AZ to join Molly Miller’s first-year coaching staff at Grand Canyon University. Her fiance, also a college basketball coach, has recently started a new gig as an assistant at nearby Ottawa University.

Emily played basketball at Judson University (NAIA) and her first season as an assistant coach was 2015-2016 at Aurora University (DIII), both in the greater Chicago area. She went on to serve as Coach Miller’s assistant at DII Drury University, where their program competed in the Elite Eight in 2019. Last season, Emily returned home to Chicago as the head coach at Roosevelt University. And now she’s jumped into her first year at the Division I level. When we interviewed Emily, she was already hard at work back in the office. We had fun catching up with her about all the newness a baby brings--sleep schedules, breastfeeding, childcare, etc. As moms in coaching, we love helping each other figure out how to make it all work! And Emily is off to a great start.