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It has been quite a season for Trenia Tillis Hoard, Tyler Junior College’s women’s basketball coach.

Not only did she reach the milestone of 500 career wins, but she also led the Apache Ladies to the NJCAA Division I national championship.

One of her favorite sayings when coaching her team is, “We just need a pound cake with no icing.” She likes nothing fancy, just the basics.

But there is some icing on the cake for this fabulous season as Tillis Hoard has been named the 2022 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, the National Junior College Athletic Association announced from its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In her 22nd year at the helm of the TJC program, Hoard led the Apache Ladies to a 28-8 overall record and the school’s second NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball National Championship title. In addition to taking home Tyler’s 67th national title, Coach Tillis Hoard became the first African American women’s head coach to win the title (Kenya Larkin Landers was co-coach with her husband Michael Landers in 2014 at Trinity Valley Community College). Coach Tillis Hoard and her staff comprised of Chelsea Hudson and Brianna Brooks became the first all-women coaching staff and first all-African American staff in the NJCAA to claim the title, the NJCAA announced.

“Consistent with the NJCAA motto of ‘Opportunities Start Here,’ Coach Hoard continues to pour into the student-athletes in our program and use athletics as an entryway to higher education and new possibilities for everybody in her program. We are honored to have her represent Tyler Junior College,” said TJC Athletic Director Kevin Vest.

Tillis Hoard was named the Coach of the Tournament after Tyler defeated Georgia Highlands, 92-80, in the championship game at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock. Hoard coached three student-athletes that received tournament honors: Tournament MVP Deborah Ogayemi, and all-tournament selections Shadiya Thomas and Taryn Wills. Nadechka Laccen also received 2021-22 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball All-America first-team recognition.

Coach Tillis Hoard recorded her 500th career victory earlier this season against Kilgore College, as the Apaches defeated the Lady Rangers, 75-72, on Feb. 9 in Kilgore. The milestone commemorated Tillis Hoard as the second African American woman to reach 500 wins in the NJCAA. Former Miami Dade women’s basketball coach Susan Summons became the first African American woman to reach the milestone in the NJCAA.

“We are incredibly proud of Coach Hoard’s accomplishments over the last 20-plus years at Tyler Junior College,” Vest said. “(We) congratulate her on the wonderful coaching job that led to the National Championship for the Apaches in 2022 and being named the NJCAA Division I Coach of the Year.”

After going 5-0 at the national tournament, Tillis Hoard has a total career wins of 507.

In high school, she led the Grapeland Sandies to the state basketball championship and was named Miss Texas Basketball. In 2021, Coach T was named one of the top 100 players in 100 years of University Interscholastic League basketball.

She then led the Stephen F. Austin State University Ladyjacks to the NCAA Tournament and she is a member of the SFA Hall of Fame.

At SFA, she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation degree and was named to the Southland Conference 1990s All-Decade Team.