LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Paul Babba has been hired as the head coach of the Bellarmine University women's soccer team, Director of Athletics Scott Wiegandt announced Tuesday.

Babba becomes the sixth head coach in the history of the program. He arrives at Bellarmine after serving two seasons as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at the University of Kentucky, where he also assumed the role of interim head coach for the final three games of the fall 2021 campaign.

"We are extremely pleased with the number of qualified applicants that the search for our next head women's soccer coach yielded," Wiegandt said. "Paul rose to the top of that impressive pool of candidates. We are excited for him to start and look forward to utilizing his recruiting and head-coaching experience to continue to move our women's soccer program forward. Paul has coached at virtually every level of college soccer and understands what it takes to operate a successful program."

Babba helped guide Kentucky to a berth in the SEC Tournament in 2020. During his time as the interim head coach in 2021, he led the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory over SEC rival Missouri. Jordyn Rhodes earned All-SEC and All-Southeast Region accolades in both of Babba's seasons at UK, while Maria Olsen was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2020.

Prior to Kentucky, Babba had a two-year stint as the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator at Division-I Elon University, where he helped engineer a notable turnaround at the North Carolina-based school. After going 3-10-4 overall and 1-7-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2018, the Phoenix delivered a nine-win improvement in 2019, amassing a 12-6-2 overall mark that included a 5-3-1 record in CAA play and first-ever berth in the conference tournament. The program garnered four All-CAA and two All-Freshman Team awards in his two seasons.

In his previous stop before Elon, Babba's ability to help orchestrate a turnaround became evident. He was the head coach for two seasons at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, and led the NAIA program to unprecedented success. In 2016, Babba guided the Lions to a runner-up finish in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament as a seven-seed. He parlayed that season-ending momentum into a historic 2017, as the Lions captured their first-ever AAC regular-season championship and berth in the NAIA National Tournament while posting the winningest season in program history at 12-7 overall and 9-2 in conference play.

For his efforts, Babba was recognized as the 2017 AAC Coach of the Year. Under his tutelage that season, the Lions also garnered AAC acknowledgements for Offensive Player of the Year (Ruth Rosales), Defensive Player of the Year (Morgana Hardt da Silva) and Freshman of the Year (Makena Giles). In his two seasons, the Lions accumulated nine All-AAC and 13 All-Academic Team honors.

Babba's first head-coaching job at the collegiate level came at Delta State University, a Division II program in Cleveland, Mississippi, that he shepherded for five seasons from 2011-15. Before that, he broke into the college coaching ranks as an assistant at Mississippi College, a then-Division III program he helped push to a 53-20-5 overall record and 38-11-3 mark in American Southwest Conference action over four seasons from 2007-10. The Choctaws earned 21 All-ASC accolades in his four years, and Carrie Kirk was the 2009 ASC Defensive Player of the Year.

"I am very humbled and grateful for being selected as the next head women's soccer coach at Bellarmine University," Babba said. "This is an exciting time to be a Bellarmine Knight, and I am looking forward to leading this program into the next chapter and building on the incredible potential of Bellarmine Soccer. I want to thank (Bellarmine President) Dr. (Susan M.) Donovan and Scott Wiegandt for trusting in me and my vision for this program.

"I would also like to thank (Deputy Director of Athletics/Senior Women's Administrator) Pam Stackhouse and the whole search committee. They painted a very clear picture of how inclusive and people oriented the environment is within the athletic department, and the overall excellence with which the university as a whole operates."

In addition to his college ledger, Babba possesses extensive experience coaching club soccer and currently serves as the technical director for Commonwealth SC. He was an assistant coach with the USL's Mississippi Brilla FC for two summers (2013-15). Babba was the director of coaching at Brandon Futbol Club (2007-08) and Cleveland, Mississippi Youth Soccer Association (2013-15) and also spent time coaching the Mississippi Brilla FC Juniors (2008-10) and Chattanooga FC (2016-18).

Babba played collegiately from 2003-06 at Belhaven University, where he was a team captain his last two seasons and ranks third all-time at the school in points (92) and is tied for third in goals (37). After college, he played two summers for Mississippi Brilla FC.

Babba earned a bachelor's degree in sports administration at Belhaven and a master's degree in athletic administration at Mississippi College. He possesses a USSF National 'A' Senior License, which is the highest qualification for coaches at the university level.

A native of Jos, Nigeria, Babba has a wife, Laura, and three children: Noah, Micah and Hannah.

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