Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email Address:
- justice@shsu.edu
- Alma Mater:
- USAO
- Graduation Year:
- 2004
- Phone:
- 936 294-1994
| COACHING HONORS | |||
| Years | Honor | ||
| 2020 | ACE College Basketball Coaching Honor Roll | ||
| 2019 | Southland Conference Coach of the Year | ||
| COACHING EXPERIENCE | |||
| Years | School, Position | ||
| 2018-Pres | Sam Houston - Head Coach | ||
| 2016-18 | Prairie View - Head Coach | ||
| 2010-16 | Houston -Â Assistant Coach | ||
| 2005-10 | Houston Baptist -Â Assistant Coach | ||
| 2004-05 | Grayson County College -Â Assistant Coach | ||
| PLAYING EXPERIENCE | |||
| Years | School | ||
| 2003-04 | University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma | ||
| 2002-03 | Washington State | ||
| 2001-02 | Clarendon College | ||
| 2000-01 | Nicholls | ||
| HEAD COACHING RECORD | |||
| Years | School | Record | Conference Record |
| 2018-Pres | Sam Houston | 116-116* | 18-34 (CUSA) 17-19 (WAC) 34-18 (Southland) |
| 2016-18 | Prairie View | 28-34 | 20-16 (SWAC) |
| Career | 10 years | 144-150* | 89-87 |
| SAM HOUSTON RECORD | |||
| Year | Record | Conference Record | Postseason/Notes |
| 2025-26 | 18-13 | 11-7 CUSA | WNIT First Round |
| 2024-25 | 13-17 | 5-13 CUSA | |
| 2023-24 | 7-22 | 2-14 CUSA | |
| 2022-23 | 13-17 | 8-10 WAC | |
| 2021-22 | 15-16* | 9-9 WAC | *DNC 13 gms |
| 2020-21 | 15-8 | 9-5 SLC | SLC Tournament finalist |
| 2019-20 | 19-10 | 14-6 SLC | |
| 2018-19 | 16-13 | 11-7 SLC | |
| 8 years | 116-116* | 18-34 (CUSA) 17-19 (WAC) 34-18 (SLC) |
|
| PRAIRIE VIEW RECORD | |||
| Year | Record | SWAC Record | Postseason |
| 2017-18 | 15-16 | 12-6 | SWAC Tournament semifinalist |
| 2016-17 | 13-18 | 8-10 | |
| 2 years | 28-34 | 20-16 | |
| *Did not coach 13 games in 2021–22. | |||
Ravon Justice enters her ninth season as Sam Houston’s head women’s basketball coach in 2026–27. Named the program’s 10th head coach in the spring of 2018, she has guided the Bearkats through competition in the Southland Conference, Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.
Justice owns a 116–116 record at Sam Houston and ranks third in program history in coaching victories. Her tenure includes the 2019 Southland Conference Coach of the Year award and the program’s second appearance in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
The Bearkats finished 18–13 in 2025–26, recording their most victories since 2019–20 and earning their first WNIT berth since 2013. Picked seventh in the CUSA preseason poll, Sam Houston finished tied for third with an 11–7 league record and earned the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, its highest seed since joining the league. The Kats also posted a 12–4 home record.
Pressure defense has been a hallmark of Justice’s program throughout her tenure. Sam Houston finished fourth nationally in turnovers forced per game in both 2018–19 and 2019–20, fifth in 2020–21 and sixth in 2024–25. The Bearkats also finished sixth nationally in steals per game in 2019–20, 12th in 2020–21 and 13th in 2024–25.
That defensive success has continued in Conference USA, where the Bearkats led the league in steals and turnovers forced per game in both 2024–25 and 2025–26. Sam Houston also led CUSA with a +7.32 turnover margin in 2025–26, collecting 419 steals for an average of 13.5 per game while forcing 25.0 turnovers per contest. The Kats forced at least 30 turnovers in 8 games, including 30 against Portland in the opening round of the WNIT.
Fanta Kone earned CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, first team All-CUSA and All-Defensive Team honors in 2025–26, while Deborah Ogayemi received second team All-CUSA recognition. Kone finished the season with 108 steals and 152 assists and established a CUSA single-game record with 12 steals against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Justice made an immediate impact upon arriving in Huntsville in 2018–19, leading Sam Houston to a 16–13 record and an 11–7 Southland mark. The 12-win improvement ranked third nationally and was the largest by a program under a first-year head coach. She became the first coach in Bearkat history to finish with a winning record in her first season and earned Southland Coach of the Year honors.
The Bearkats followed with a 19–10 season in 2019–20, setting program Division I records for overall victories and Southland wins with a 14–6 league mark. Sam Houston averaged 75.7 points per game and forced 22.6 turnovers per contest. Justice was subsequently named to the 2020 Achieving Coaching Excellence College Basketball Coaching Honor Roll, one of 12 women’s coaches recognized nationally across all divisions.
Sam Houston finished 15–8 and reached the Southland Tournament championship game in 2020–21. Amber Leggett earned first team All-Southland and All-Defensive Team recognition in both 2019–20 and 2020–21. Faith Cook was named Southland Newcomer of the Year in 2019–20 and later earned first team All-WAC honors in 2021–22.
Before joining Sam Houston, Justice spent two seasons as head coach at Prairie View A&M, compiling a 28–34 overall record and a 20–16 SWAC mark. Her first team won a school-record five non-conference games and finished 11–2 at home. In 2017–18, the Panthers went 12–6 in conference play and advanced to the SWAC Tournament semifinals. Her players included SWAC Newcomer of the Year Shala Dobbins and Freshman of the Year Jhyrah Cobb.
Justice previously served as an assistant coach at Houston from 2010–16, also handling recruiting coordinator duties. In her first season, the Cougars finished 26–6, won the Conference USA championship and returned to the NCAA Tournament. She helped develop first team All-CUSA guard Porsche Landry and coordinated a recruiting class ranked No. 22 by Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and No. 39 by ESPN HoopGurlz.
Her time at Houston followed five seasons as an assistant at Houston Baptist, where she helped the Huskies win a Red River Athletic Conference regular-season championship, two conference tournament titles and earn two NAIA National Tournament appearances. She began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Grayson County College in 2004–05.
Justice began her collegiate playing career at Nicholls before transferring to Clarendon College, where she earned junior college All-America and Western Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. She then played at Washington State before completing her career at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. As a senior in 2003–04, she averaged 19.3 points per game and earned All-Sooner Athletic Conference recognition.
Justice earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from USAO in 2004 and her master’s degree in liberal arts from Houston Baptist in 2009.
