Nyla Milleson, Drury University’s vice president and director of athletics, has named Faith Hopkins the next head coach for DU’s women’s golf program.
Hopkins played three seasons for Missouri State after starting her collegiate career at Oklahoma State. She spent last year as an assistant coach for the Evangel University men’s and women’s golf teams.
A native of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Hopkins was part of Missouri State’s 2023 Missouri Valley Conference championship and NCAA Regional qualifying team during her senior year. She had a second-place finish and a sixth place during her sophomore season, and she played in four tournaments as a freshman at Oklahoma State in 2018-19.
As an assistant coach with Evangel, she helped the Valor women’s team to one tournament win, and two second-place finishes during the regular season, in addition to a fourth-place finish at the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.
“Faith brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” said Milleson. “She has championship experience from her time at Missouri State, has played the game at the highest levels of collegiate golf, and I know she will relate to our student-athletes very well.”
Hopkins had an accomplished high school career in Oklahoma as she was named the 2018 Golf Athlete of the Year by the Tulsa World and won the individual class 6A Oklahoma state championship as a senior at Bartlesville High School. She was a four-time state qualifier, was a medalist in the 2017 USGA Four-Ball Qualifier, and finished third at the AJGA Junior Oak Tree tournament.
Hopkins was on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll at Missouri State for three years, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team as a freshman, and earned a place on the Women’s Golf Coaches Association NCAA All-Scholar Team. She graduated from Missouri State with a degree in business administration and marketing eResearch, and she earned a master’s degree in business administration from MSU in 2023.
“I’m excited about coming to Drury, and I’m excited to get going,” said Hopkins, who met with her team through a video conference call on Monday. “We’ve got a great group of girls. They are talented, but they also have great potential, and I believe we can do some great things together.”
Hopkins’ high school coach was Katie (Wilburn) Wilson, who played for Drury from 2006-10, and Hopkins’ cousin, Natalie Sago, played softball for the Panthers and is a current official in the NBA.
She will be the fourth head coach in the program’s 21-year history. Lisa Tinkler had two stints as the Panthers’ head coach (2003-12 and 2017-19). Dawna Hartman, now an assistant at Missouri State and coached Hopkins while she was on the Bears, was the head coach at Drury from 2013-16. Hopkins replaces CJ Ball, who resigned as head coach in May after leading the team for five years.
Hopkins will take over a team a Drury team that finished third at the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in 2024 and has had individuals reach the NCAA-II regional for the last two seasons.