ATLANTA - Abilene Christian women's basketball associate head coach and recruiting coordinator
Yannick Denson was selected to participate in the
Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Next Generation Institute, the WBCA announced Thursday.
The WBCA Next Generation Institute is a high-level program for assistant coaches who aspire to become head coaches at the collegiate level. Now in its fourth year, the initiative seeks to educate on the CEO qualities necessary to lead a program and be a problem-solver in the ever-changing worlds of higher education and college athletics.
Denson was one of 34 coaches selected nationally for the program, held at the WBCA Convention in Phoenix on April 2-5. Participants must be current WBCA members, hold at least five years of experience as a coach and be nominated by a fellow WBCA member.
"The WBCA is pleased to announce the participants for the 2026 WBCA Next Generation Institute," WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew said in a release. "This fourth class of cohorts will be challenged to set aside X's and O's for two days during the upcoming WBCA Convention in Phoenix and concentrate on understanding and developing the skills in business, communications, marketing and management of both people and resources that is required to be a successful head coach in this new landscape of college athletics."
Denson is in the midst of his second season in the Big Country and has transformed the Wildcats' defense into one of the best at the mid-major level. ACU touts the Western Athletic Conference's top scoring defense at 57.7 points per game, a top-40 mark in the country, and ranks within the top 25 nationally for steals and turnovers forced per game.
The Wildcats are 17-6 this season with an 8-2 mark in WAC play, their hottest entrance to conference action since 2016-17. A native of Houston, Denson was elevated to the associate head coach position after guiding ACU to the Super 16 of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2024-25.
Last year, the Wildcats earned their most victories, highest overall winning percentage and highest conference winning percentage since 2020.
Before making his way to Abilene, Denson served as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston and UT Rio Grande Valley and was the head coach at Howard Payne for three seasons.
Prior to rising to the college ranks, Denson captured a state championship in 2017 as the head coach of the Legacy Christian Academy girls basketball team in Beaumont, Texas. He was named the Super Gold Girls Basketball Coach of the Year in 2016 when Legacy Christian finished runner-up in the state tournament.
