Elon University alumna Essence Baucom entered her fifth season with the women's basketball staff as an assistant coach. A two-time team captain for the Phoenix, Baucom competed for the Phoenix from 2014-17 and spent time as an assistant coach at Furman before returning to Elon.
In the most recent season, Baucom helped guide Elon to a 16–16 overall record, including a 10–8 mark in CAA play. The Phoenix earned the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2021–22 season. The team’s 10 conference victories were its highest total since 2017–18. Elon also saw strong postseason recognition, with LaNae’ Corbett earning Third Team All-CAA honors, while Ashanti Fox and Tamia Watkins were both named to the All-Rookie Team—marking the first time since 2014–15 that two players from the program received that distinction in the same year.
During the 2024–25 campaign, Baucom contributed to a 15–15 overall finish and an 8–6 record in conference play. The Phoenix secured the No. 6 seed in the CAA Championship and advanced to the second round for the sixth consecutive season. The year also featured major individual honors, as Jayda Angel became the program’s first player to be named both CAA Rookie of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year, while Raven Preston earned CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition.
In 2023-24, Baucom helped lead the team to an 11-21 overall record and 7-11 conference record, highlighted by a 9-8 road record, the best since 2017. The Phoenix earned the No. 9 seed in the CAA Championship and advanced to the second round for the fifth consecutive year. The team achieved an All-Rookie Team selection in Maraja Pass for the second straight year.
In 2022-23, Baucom helped lead the Phoenix to a 9-21 overall record and 5-13 in conference play. Elon finished eleventh in the regular season, earning the No. 11 seed in the CAA Championship. This was the fourth consecutive year the Phoenix advanced to the second round of the CAA Championship.
During the 2021-22 season, Baucom helped guide the Phoenix to a 17-12 (9-9 CAA) record, marking the first time the maroon and gold ended its regular season with a .500 or above conference record (9-9) since its 2017-18 campaign. Elon's road record (7-7) was also the best it has been since the 2017-18 season. Entering the CAA Championship as the four seed, the Phoenix fell to fifth-seeded Charleston in the quarterfinals. Senior Brie Perpignan was tabbed second team all-conference in addition to becoming the 25th member of the program's 1,000-point club.
In her one season at Furman, Baucom helped the Paladins to an 11-14 record, which included a 9-1 mark at home. Before that, she spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at NC State, earning her master's degree. At NC State, she helped the Wolfpack to a 28-4 record and the program's first ACC Tournament Championship since 1991. She worked with NC State's guards and well as on opponent scouting and practice preparation.
Before joining the staff at NC State, Baucom served as an assistant coach at Lakeside High School in Atlanta, Ga. She also spent time as a facilities and sporting events/summer camps coordinator at Elon.
Baucom started 93 of her 96 career games in the maroon and gold and finished her Elon career with 382 assists, placing her seventh on Elon's all-time leaderboard. Her assists per game average of 4.0 ranks third in program history. As a senior, she was named to the CAA All-Tournament team after scoring 16 points in a 78-60 victory over James Madison in the CAA Championship game. The Phoenix finished the season with a 27-7 record and earned an 11 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the program's first-ever bid. Baucom also played an integral role in Elon's WNIT berths in 2015 and 2016.
Baucom holds two bachelor's degrees from Elon: sport and event management and marketing, with a minor in business administration. She also collected her master's degree in liberal studies from NC State in May of 2020.
