Louis Whorton is entering his 30th year as head coach of the Lady Lions basketball team and boasts a 627-268 overall win-loss record at the collegiate level.
During the past six seasons of NCAA Division II competition, Whorton guided the Lady Lions to a 89-73 record and a Heartland Conference championship, a conference tournament championship, a runner-up finish in the conference tournament and a berth in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
This past season, he led the Lady Lions to a 21-9 record, a conference regular season title, a conference tournament title and a berth in the South Central Region Tournament.
During his years at UAFS (formerly Westark College), the Lady Lions have won one Arkansas JUCO Conference championship, three Arkansas State Tournament championships, seven Bi-State East Conference championships, and seven Region II championships. His teams also were Region II runners-up six times.
He was NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 1994-95, leading the Lady Lions to a national championship and undefeated season. His team placed second in the NJCAA national tournament in 1993-94. In their 1997-98 and 2005-2006 national tournament appearances they finished seventh, in 2003-04 they came in fourth and garnered third place in 2004-05 and 2007-08.
Whorton was inducted into the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. During his 23 seasons as a junior college coach, he compiled an impressive 538-195 record – an average of 23 wins per season.
Prior to UAFS, Whorton coached at the high school level at Hector, Hoxie, Blytheville, Subiaco and County Line. He graduated from Hartford High School, attended Westark College and the University of the Ozarks. He received his master’s degree from Arkansas Tech University.
He was inducted into the University of the Ozarks Eagles Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
He and his wife, Pat, have one son, Jeremy.
