Rachel Travis joined the Longwood women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in August, 2014, completing her second year with the Lancers after the 2015-16 season.
Travis has overseen several roles in her time with the blue and white. She has been the squad’s travel coordinator, as well as the squad’s academic and film liaison. Travis also plays a vital role in recruiting, scouting and overseeing the day-to-day basketball operations.
In her two years of assisting with the Lancers, Travis has helped the squad win 12 games, as the squad has had a pair of injury-riddled seasons under her watch. In 2014-15, Longwood posted a 4-26 record with Daeisha Brown, a Preseason All-Big South selection, and leading rebounder Khalilah Ali limited to just a handful of games due to ACL tears.
In 2015-16, Travis and the Lancers went 8-22 overall, as the squad saw the emergence of sophomore Micaela Ellis, who led the team in assists and minutes. In addition, she aided in the development of Kemari Jones and Eboni Gilliam.
Travis came to Longwood after spending the previous four years as a head coach at the high school level, running the varsity girls’ programs at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Fla., and Episcopal School of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla.
In her first year at Florida Air, she helped guide the team to the 2012-13 3A District Championship. The squad went 10-0 in district play and 20-5 overall while advancing to the regional finals. She followed that performance by taking Florida Air back to the district title game in 2014 after amassing a 19-8 overall record and a 9-1 mark in district play. The team also advanced to the regional final that year.
Prior to her two-year stint at Florida Air, Travis held the varsity girls basketball head coaching position at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years.
A 2009 graduate of Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., Travis has affected the lives of young people in a variety of roles. In addition to her responsibilities as head basketball coach, Travis also taught psychology and physical education at both Florida Air and the Episcopal School.
Travis began her coaching career as a girls basketball camp director and coach at Episcopal in the summer of 2010, the same year she began her semi-professional playing career. In August of 2010, she stepped in as Episcopal’s head coach while moonlighting as a starting guard for the Florida Lady Knight Hawks of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League.
She ended her playing career in 2011 to focus on coaching at Episcopal and has also held coaching stints as an assistant for the West Boca Elite AAU program (2013), head coach for the Central Florida Elite Black 2015.
Travis was a four-year starter and three-year team captain at Northwest. A two-time academic all-conference selection, she graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in secondary education with emphasis in health and fitness. She was named to the dean’s list and honor during her collegiate career. Travis was also a three-time Cascade Conference Player of the Week.
A native of North Bend, Wash., Travis is CPR certified and a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
