Mincey welcomes back Wykle as graduate assistant coach
Carson-Newman women’s basketball head coach Mike Mincey announced Thursday the hiring of three-time All-American Braelyn Wykle as a graduate assistant coach with the program.
VIDEO: Braelyn Wykle Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's basketball head coach Mike Mincey announced Thursday the hiring of three-time All-American Braelyn Wykle as a graduate assistant coach with the program.
"Incredibly lucky to have Braelyn come back to be our graduate assistant next year," Mincey said. "She knows our program and the processes of it as well as anybody and there won't be a learning curve at all. She will hit the ground running from recruiting, player development and schematics perspective. From the time she suited up for her first game in 2019 until now, she has been all Carson-Newman and I know she will give everything she has as a coach to continue to make our program successful."
"Our entire team will benefit having Braelyn, but it's the guards who will benefit the most from their daily work with her. Not often do you get to be coached by the program's all-time leading scorer and three-pointers made leader, amongst the many other accolades she has at C-N and in the conference as well."
During her five-year playing career which concluded in 2023-24, Wykle was a three-time All-American earning first team honors in her final playing season in Mossy Creek. She is one of just two players in program history to be a three-time All-American and is just one of three to be a first team All-American.
"I'm super excited," Wykle said. "Anybody in my position would be. It's a great program with a strong history. I didn't really miss much, I was there for a lot of the home games. I'm grateful for the opportunity that basketball has given me and that Coach Mincey and Coach Nickles have given me. I'm glad to be back a part of this program."
The Greeneville, Tenn. native put together one of the most outstanding and exceptional careers in program history, etching her name in several parts of the record book. Wykle is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,782 career points. That scoring mark ranks second in South Atlantic Conference history and fourth all-time on the DII scoring list. Braelyn completed her playing career with a scoring average of 19.2, second highest ever in SAC history. In total, Wykle made 970 baskets, the most in program and SAC history on efficient 46/41/87 career splits.
With 2,782 career points came 370 three-pointers, the most in program history. The sharp shooting from long range allowed her to finish second in SAC history and seventh all-time among DII players for threes made. In her final go around, Wykle broke the program and the SAC's single-season record for three-pointers made with 107 in 2023-24. On her senior day, she broke the program's single-season three-point mark and the single-game record for three-pointers made with 13. In that same game, Wykle scored a career-high 45 points and made 15 of her 26 shots.
The former SAC player and freshman of the year scored in double figures 128 times and had 71 games where she scored at least 20 points. She led her team in scoring 86 times and had 58 games where she made at least 3 three-pointers.
No player has started and played in more games in program and in SAC history than her with 145. The three-time all-region player never missed a game in her career and won 105 games in five seasons.
