Watertown's Tia Hemiller named new head girls basketball coach at RC Central
Former Watertown High School standout and current WHS assistant coach Tia Hemiller has been hired as the next head girls basketball coach at Rapid City Central High School.
The hiring, announced Thursday by Rapid City Central High School activities director Jordan Bauer, is pending school board approval.
"We are pleased and excited to have Coach Hemiller working with our basketball program. Her breadth ofknowledge, experience and personable demeanor will be a very positive influence on the players in the program and the students in our school. We look forward to what we believe to be great things at Central High school," said Bauer.
"Coach Hemiller is a highly regarded young coach who has worked with strong basketball programs and has a proven track record of success coaching at the AA level along with being a Division I athlete."
Hemiller is no stranger to basketball. In high school, she was a five-year letter winner and four-year starter for the Arrows. A two-time Class AA All-State first team selection, Hemiller was a freshmen point guard on Watertown's 2009 state Class AA championship team. She also was five-year letter winner in track and field, placing in more than 20 events at the state track meet.
She continued her basketball career at the University of South Dakota from 2012-2016, playing regularly as a freshman and starting her final three years. As a senior in 2015-16, she helped the Coyotes repeat as the Summit League regular-season champion and win the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
During her time with the Coyotes, Hemiller earned multiple all-Summit League selections, made the WNIT all-tournament team and was tied for the school record of career games played with 135.
Her coaching experience includes serving the head seventh grade girls and eighth-grade boys coach in Spearfish and as a girls varsity assistant at Sioux Falls Roosevelt and this past winter with the Arrows, who went 12-12 and qualified for the state Class AA tournament for the first time since 2009.
Hemiller's coaching philosophy emphasizes teamwork, dedication and a commitment to hard work both onand off the court. She believes in building strong relationships with players and fostering an environment where they can learn and grow as individuals and as a team.
“For me, being connected to the Lakota culture and community is something that is very important andmeaningful. I come from a Sicangu Oyate background and I’m excited to bring that background as a strength to Rapid City Central," Hemiller said.
"I am thrilled to be joining the Rapid City Central family as the new head girls basketball coach. I am looking forward to getting to know the players, the community and building a program that is built on hard work, respect and success. I am confident that we have the talent and the drive to achieve great things this season and beyond."
Hemiller replaces Jacqee Schaefer, who became the Cobblers' interim head coach when former Aberdeen Central coach Josh Mach stepped down due to health concerns in January during his first season as Rapid City Central's head coach. The Cobblers went 6-15 during a season that ended with a loss to Sioux Falls O'Gorman in the SoDak 16.
Bauer said the Cobblers are excited to welcome Hemiller on board.
"Coach Hemiller is a winner in every sense of the word, and she is not only an incredible coach, but also an incredible educator of young women," he said. "She works tirelessly to put her student-athletes in a position to succeed and she makes them believe that they can achieve anything with hard work and determination."
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: The former WHS standout also played for the University of South Dakota.
