LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Simmons College of Kentucky celebrated the city's newest basketball champions on Thursday. Their women's basketball team won against Toccoa Falls College in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) on March 16.
They also became Kentucky's only college basketball team to bring home a national title this year.
"This feeling is amazing; as you see the atmosphere is here so the expectation was high and we conquered what we were trying to do," head coach Earl Ruffin said.
This is Ruffin's first year as head coach after serving as assistant coach last year. He said it was the team's unique chemistry that allowed them to win.
"Me looking as an assistant coach, I thought we did a lot more team bonding and that's what brought us closer to be victorious," he said.
The parade route moved through parts of Old Louisville and near downtown, circling back through to the main campus.
This is the first national championship in the schools history.
The basketball program has come a long way from practicing at St. Stephens Family Life Center, and seeing their handwork payoff means a lot to Athletic Director Jerry Eaves.
"Coach and I were picking the girls up in our cars and driving them at 5 in the morning to start the program," he said. "Where it is today is just remarkable."
Eaves said this is just the start to the program's future.
He is counting on the community to help the athletic department grow as they're in need of an athletics building.
"Community leaders understand that we need this to continue to grow, everyone knows a strong HBCU in your city will help the backbone of many," Eaves said.
Ruffin said the ladies are looking forward to an even better year.
"The plan for next year is to go back-to-back we want to continue to grow," he said.
Simmons College of Kentucky is the oldest historically black college and university in Kentucky. It was founded a few months after the end of the Civil War.
In 1879, the state convention purchased four acres of land in Louisville to serve as the main campus.
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