Craig Wiginton was named the head coach of the OUAZ women's basketball program on April 12, 2021. Wiginton took over with nine years of collegiate head coaching experience, including seven in the NAIA.
During his time as a head coach at Southern Nazarene University and Grand Canyon University, Wiginton amassed a record of 240-70 (.775) with eight seasons of 20-plus wins and five of those reaching at least 30 wins.
In seven seasons as head coach at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma, Wiginton compiled a record of 213-44 (.829) and left with a pair of NAIA National Championships and as the winningest head coach in program history. Wiginton took SNU to the Fab Four in each of his seven years and earned NAIA National Coach-of-the-Year honors following the program's titles in 1997 and 2003. He also led the Crimson Storm to national runner-up finishes in 1998 and 2002 and was named WBCA National NAIA Coach of the Year in 2002.
After his run at SNU, Wiginton spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri. He then took over as head coach at Grand Canyon University. The Lopes went just 4-22 in Wiginton’s first season (2005-06) before turning things around and finishing 23-4 in 2006-07. The 18.5 game improvement is still the NCAA Division II record. GCU won the 2007 Pac West title and Wiginton was named the Pac West Coach of the Year.
Wiginton, who played for Dave Bliss at Oklahoma and lettered for the Sooners in 1976 and 1977, began his 27-year coaching career at OU in 1977 as a graduate assistant under Bliss. He then moved on to hold head boy's basketball coaching positions at Choctaw and Yukon (Okla.) High Schools. Wiginton started at SNU in 1994 as a men's basketball assistant for two seasons before taking over the head women's basketball coaching position in 1996. He also has experience with USA Basketball as a court coach, helping select the USA Women's National Team in 2001.
Most recently, Wiginton has worked as co-owner and general manager of Solid Rock Basketball in Edmond, Okla.
The Norman, Okla., native holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from OU in 1978. He is married to his wife, JoAnna, and he has one stepdaughter, Meg.
