"Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard" - Sam Lincoln
Coach Darah Huffman is in her seventh year as the head coach for the J. L. Mann girl's varsity basketball team. In her first six years as head coach, she had an overall record of 148 - 20. The Lady Patriots have been region champions for the past six years and have won three state championships under her watch (2006, 2007 and 2008). Coach Huffman was named the South Carolina Coach of the Year in 2008. She has also been named the Region Coach of the Year for all six of her coaching years at J. L. Mann as well as the Greenville County Coach of the Year in 2006.
“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
Coach Leopard enters her fourth season as an assistant coach for the Lady Patriots who won state championship titles in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Leopard teaches physical education, coaches volleyball, and serves as the athletic director at Beck Academy in Greenville. Coach Leopard played basketball at Presbyterian College. She was a three time all-conference selection who led the Blue Hose to two South Atlantic Conference tournament titles and two South Atlantic regular season championships. In addition, the Blue Hose appeared in three NCAA Division II Tournaments during Leopard's tenure, including the 1999-2000 season in which PC posted a 28-2 record and was ranked as high as fourth. During Leopard's career there, Presbyterian recorded a 95-25 record with 20 or more wins in each of her four seasons.
As a senior and team captain in 2002, Leopard earned a spot on the Daktronics All Region team and led the SAC in free throw percentage (91.4). She completed her collegiate career as PC's second leading scorer (1,739 points) and all-time leader in career free throw percentage (83.4).
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying” – Michael Jordan
Coach Lillie Young is an assistant coach for the Lady Patriots. She specializes in coaching the post players. She actually attended J. L. Mann High School and played basketball for the Lady Patriots. Coach Young started her college basketball playing for the Lady Trojans at Anderson College. While at AC, she was voted as the Most Valuable Player and was nominated for the player of the year in the NAIA. She eventually came back to Mann and coached the girl’s junior varsity team before she accepted her current position as an assistant on the varsity squad and was part of three state championship teams (2006, 2007, and 2008). Coach Young has been at J. L. Mann for over 16 years and also works in the administrative office for J. L. Mann’s Magnet Program.