After losing Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Hana Haden to Memphis, Georgia Southern athletics director Chris Davis quickly sprung into action to find his next Eagle women’s basketball coach.
After less than 10 days, Davis was excited to announce the Eagles had hired another proven winner on the D-II level as Heather Macy was revealed as the 10th head coach in women’s basketball history at Georgia Southern.
On Tuesday afternoon, an introductory press conference and welcome was held at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center as things became official.
“With the success Hana had winning the regular season title, I had a feeling this may happen,” Davis said. “The key was trying to get something in place before the portal opened up because the locker room was so tight and we hoped to get someone to keep them together.
"I felt coach Macy is the perfect person to keep it rolling. The difference at The Hill for women’s basketball from game one (versus) how excited everyone was at the end of the year and the atmosphere was great. Statesboro and Georgia Southern appreciate winners and I think Heather will be able to continue the momentum our program was on.”
Macy comes to Statesboro from Nova Southeastern University, where she led the Sharks to a 29-5 record, a Sunshine State Conference tournament title and a fourth straight berth into the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament.
“When you start looking and you have the experience I have inside of my career, it is about the people,” Macy said. “There are other beautiful arenas in the country, but when I met Chris Davis and saw the people he’s aligned with, it’s the people I want to work really hard for every single day.”
In 20 seasons as a head coach at a variety of levels, Macy has collected a 383-212 overall record (.644) with 11 of her 20 seasons resulting in 20 or more wins. Her Nova Southeastern squad in 2025-26 claimed the program's first league tournament title since 2015 and featured an offense that ranked fifth in NCAA Division II in scoring at 82.6 points per game and a defense that ranked third in the nation in steals per game (16.6) and second in turnover margin (+10.88).
Macy thinks fans and players will enjoy her style and tempo.
“We want to shoot it before we turn it over,” Macy said. “We then send so many to the offensive glass to create more freedom for the players. Players seem to love it and we are able to retain them. To be able to retain the seven returning players we have is a huge step to play off last year’s momentum.”
Prior to Nova Southeastern, Macy made head coaching stops at Barry, Greensboro College and Spartanburg Methodist College. She is the all-time winningest head coach in East Carolina history, coaching there from 2010-18 and accumulating 134 wins across eight seasons.
Macy also directed Francis Marion to three 20-win seasons and three NCAA Division II tournament berths from 2007-10. She began her head coaching career at Pfeiffer University from 2005-07.
