Patechia Hartman named Walters State Women’s Basketball Coach

MORRISTOWN, TN – Patechia Hartman, a long-time professional basketball player and one of the best to ever play at Georgia State University, is bringing her coaching talents to Morristown.

On Wednesday, Hartman was named the Head Coach of the Walters State Women's Basketball program.

"We are thrilled to announce the hiring of Patechia Hartman as our new women's basketball coach," Walters State Athletic Director Derek Creech said. "Coach Hartman was a phenomenal player, and that talent has carried over to her coaching ability, as she has had success as a coach at multiple levels. The Walters State Women's Basketball program is one of the top junior college programs in the country, and we are confident in Coach Hartman's ability to continue that tradition."  

Hartman has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia State University. During that time, Hartman helped develop two All-Conference student-athletes and a Freshman of the Year honoree. With Hartman, the Panthers obtained their first victories in program history over a Power 5 school, defeating both the University of Georgia and Clemson University. 

Before joining the Georgia State staff, Hartman was the head women's basketball coach at McDonough High School for three seasons. Hartman led the team to a Sweet 16 State Tournament appearance in her first season. Before that, Hartman was an assistant coach at Henry County High School, Westlake High School and Tri-Cities High School. She was also the head women's basketball coach at Atlanta Metropolitan College for two seasons. 

As a player, Hartman spent four years at Georgia State University. During that time, Hartman led the Panthers to two conference titles and two NCAA Tournament bids. For her career, Hartman scored over 1,500 points, dished out over 400 assists and collected 200 steals. She was a two-time Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and had her No. 3 jersey retired in 2006. She holds top-10 rankings in eight career categories at Georgia State, and she was inducted into the Georgia State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2026. 

Following her time at Georgia State, Hartman played professional basketball overseas for 12 seasons. Hartman spent time in Iceland, Hungary, Taiwan and the Dominican Republic. She also spent time playing in the US and was the first pick in the Women's Universal Basketball Association 2011 Draft. She was the MVP of that league and MVP of the WUBA Finals. 

In 2013, Hartman was selected to play for the USA National Team in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan, China. Hartman averaged 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals during the Cup and was named the top guard of the cup. 

The Walters State women's basketball team opens its 2026-27 season in November. The Lady Senators are coming off of a 28-3 season that saw them go a perfect 20-0 in TCCAA play, win a TCCAA Regular Season Championship, a TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament Championship and advance to the NJCAA DI Tournament Elite Eight. The Lady Senators have won 13 Region 7 Championships since 2012, totaled four Sweet Sixteen finishes during that time and three Elite Eight finishes. In 2015, Walters State made the NJCAA DI Tournament Final Four.