Northwestern State women’s basketball head coach Anna Nimz announced the addition of Addae Houston to the coaching staff on Monday afternoon.
A Dallas native, Houston comes to NSU after a year as an assistant at Nebraska Wesleyan and four at his alma mater Northwest Missouri State, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant following two years as member of the men’s basketball team.
Houston helped guide the Bearcats to one of their best seasons in his final year on staff.
NW Missouri collected the most wins in single season more than a decade. The steady growth on the court during his coaching tenure culminated with the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athleti Association’s second ranked scoring defense, 56.7 points per game, that held opponents to a 26 percent effort from beyond the arc.
The on-court success was a direct correlation to the work the Bearcats put in off it under Houston’s eye. NW Missouri had the fourth highest team GPA (3.81) in the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association across Division II for the 2021-22 season.
“I am incredibly excited to welcome Coach Houston to our family,” Nimz said. “He adds even more energy, passion and a strong desire to win, both on the court and off it, to our program. He has a blue-collar work ethic, just like the rest of the staff, and understands what it takes to win. Addae will spend significant time working one-on-one with our players developing and improving their individual skillsets.”
Prior to returning to his alma mater in 2018, Houston established a new culture as the head coach at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, turning the women’s basketball program around in a short time frame.
Following a winless season prior to his arrival, Houston snapped a 38-game losing streak in his first year with the Spartans and just three seasons later earned the programs first postseason win in over a decade along with consecutive postseason appearances.
His emphasis on development on and off the court was evident during his time there as well with nine players earning all-region honors and 33 picking up all-academic honors under his watch.
Houston began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Northwest Missouri women’s team under head coach Gene Steinmeyer following a successful two-year playing career for the Bearcats under Hall of Famer Steve Tappmeyer from 2004-06.
He spent one season at Kaskaskia Community College after earning his health and physical education master’s degree before returning to NW Missouri for his first stint as an assistant coach. He was on staff for the 29-5 women’s team that appeared in the program’s first Final Four during the 2010-11 season.
