Former Irvine Valley star women's basketball player Fala Bullock was recently named as the next head coach at Northeastern State in Oklahoma.
Bullock played at Northeastern State and then was a graduate assistant before moving on to jobs at Central Georgia and Armstrong State.
"I am thrilled that Fala Bullock will lead our program in a new era of RiverHawks Basketball," said Northeastern State Athletics and Chief Athletics Office Tony Duckworth on the school's website. "Fala embraces the challenges and responsibility of returning NSU women's basketball to winning seasons.
"She values athleticism, skill, toughness and quality young ladies in recruiting which will lay a foundation for an exciting future. Her peers acknowledge her understanding of the game, strengths as an in-game coach and my personal film study of her team reflect their perspective and her philosophy of how she wants the game to be played. Welcome home, Coach Bullock."
Bullock replaces Randy Gipson who retired at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season after leading the NSU women's basketball program for 18 years.
Bullock is no stranger to the NSU program, playing for Gipson for two seasons, and was a graduate assistant under Gipson from 2004 to 2006.
As student-athlete, Bullock played in 57 games and NSU went 36-19, winning the 2003 Lone Star Conference Tournament, and made the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
As a member of Gipson's coaching staff, NSU reached the Sweet 16 in 2004, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2006. Bullock played for NSU for two seasons
"It is a tremendous honor to be selected to lead the women's basketball program and make my return home to my alma mater NSU and the Tahlequah community. I'd like to thank Athletic Director Tony Duckworth, President Turner, Coach Randy Gipson and the athletic department for a first class experience and look forward to joining the RiverHawks family very soon," said Bullock on the school's website.
"I am up for the challenges of coaching and competing in the MIAA next season and developing the RiverHawks Women's Basketball program to be conference and regional contenders in the near future."
With six years of head coaching experience, Bullock is 97-75 overall and within conference play she is 61-53. She has spent the last four seasons (2013-17) as head coach at NCAA Division II Armstrong State University, where she recorded a career mark of 60-52. In her first season at Armstrong State, she led the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, and reached the Sweet 16.
At Armstrong State, Bullock coached five all-conference players, one Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, and was named PBC Co-Coach of the Year in 2014.
Bullock went to Armstrong State from Central Georgia Technical College in Macon, Ga., where she started the program in 2011 and directed the Cougars to an impressive 25-6 record in just their second season of competition in 2012-13, advancing to the GCAA Championships.
Bullock was the assistant coach as well as the Senior Woman's Administrator (SWA) at Columbus State for two years. The Cougars featured a WBCA first team All-American selection and compiled a 32-23 record in her two seasons with the program.
Bullock earned her bachelors of science degree in health and human performance from Northeastern State in 2004 as well as her masters of science degree in kinesiology from NSU in 2006.
Following her time at NSU, she spent one season as an assistant coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College before moving on to NCAA Division II Midwestern State as an assistant coach from 2007-09.
The Irvine and University High native began her intercollegiate career at Irvine Valley College, transferring to Northeastern State as a junior.
As Fala Suiaunoa, she helped lead the Lasers to a record of 45-10 in her two years and two trips to the Southern California Regional Playoff Finals. She led the team in scoring her sophomore year at 13.1 points per game and made a school-record at the time 71 three-pointers. She was also named first team all-conference.
She also starred at local Uni High where she was named first team all-league twice and averaged 18.5 points a game as a senior.
