Since 2015, the Golden Eagles have been learning to fly. Brockport Women’s Basketball was once a team that finished sub. 500, fighting for their postseason lives til the end of the season and usually finishing those seasons with a first round playoff exit. Fast forward to 2026, the Golden Eagles are soaring again.
The average basketball fan may think that teams are built from its players with how athletically gifted and skilled they are along with the brains of the head coach that leads the way. But for Brockport, it’s more than that. It’s about loyalty, toughness and togetherness and that has been the mentality that 11-year head coach Corinne Jones has created. She couldn’t do it herself though, as the nest that the Golden Eagles sit in rests atop the culture tree that Jones has planted with the help of former Brockport Women’s Basketball alumni.
The former Golden Eagles did not believe it was time to leave and make their new nest, wherever that may be. Instead, they stayed in Brockport to make sure this culture nest became stronger. Zairea Hannah, Kaileigh Hunt and Harmony Philo have all contributed to the building of that culture.
“They know me as a coach and a person,” Jones said. “They are one, loyal to me and that’s what you are trying to find. They know how I work, they know what makes me tick, they know what drives me nuts, they know the non-negotiables and then they’re better able to help our players.”
From a diversity of personalities to connecting with the players, the trio all helps Jones in different ways. When all are together, it only brings the energy up for the Golden Eagles.
“They all have different personalities, so some players vibe with some of them and other players vibe with others,” Jones said. “I think the players get really excited when all of us are on the bench together and they have assistants to talk to when they come in and out of games. The synergy I think starts with the loyalty of the staff.”
Hannah joined the staff in 2025 after graduating from Brockport in 2024. The former Golden Eagle forward played for Brockport from 2022-2024 after playing at Monroe Community College her first two years.
Despite only playing two seasons at Brockport, Hannah’s name was left in the record books. In just a two year career, Hannah sits 10th all time in career rebounds with 572, first all time with 324 rebounds in a single season (2024) and 12th all time in blocks with 57, including a seven-block game for fourth most all time in a single outing.
That’s not all as Hannah hauled in 20 rebounds in three games during her career, good for the fourth most by a Golden Eagle. To go along with that, Hannah posted the highest career rebounding average by a Golden Eagle with 11.2 and highest season average as well with 12.5 in the 23-24 season.
Hannah throughout her time truly didn’t know what she wanted to do for her future, but that ultimately played a part in why she wanted to be a coach.
“During my last season I was still figuring out what I wanted to do and really trying to find my footing. Then I realized how much coaching and basketball played a major part in my life and in my development as a person,” Hannah said. “Overall, it was invested in my life and bettered my situation as an adult trying to seek higher education. I wanted to get into women’s basketball and coach. I wanted to be able to handle that weight and provide opportunities for other young women of the future to see a way out and know that there are opportunities available.
When thinking about her future, Hannah’s decision was influenced by Brockport and Coach Jones.
“Coach Jones really helped me see the options and showed me how to get back into education and into the sport as well,” Hannah said. “All her efforts and all her help has bettered me as a student and athlete and that was a big reason why I wanted to take the opportunity and help people like me.”
In 2025, Brockport had its best season yet under Jones. The Golden Eagles flew through the Empire 8, earning the Regular Season Championship with a 24-5 overall record and a 15-1 record in conference play. Brockport went on to win awards including Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year along with three Golden Eagles being named to the All-Conference team.
In the playoffs, Brockport ended up falling to the SUNY Geneseo Knights 66-63 in the Empire 8 Championship, but still earned a spot in the NCAA DIII Tournament for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2009.
Hunt and Philo were two factors to Brockport’s 2025 success. Transferring from Saint Rose College, Hunt averaged 12.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, 2.1 assists per game and 1.4 steals per game all while shooting 45% from the field and 77% from the charity stripe. The newest addition was named to Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team and along with that, sits sixth all time in program history in free throw percentage.
Hunt didn’t even know if she wanted to play basketball anymore, as her love for it was on the ropes. But thanks to Brockport, Hunt was able to find that love again.
“Coach Jones invited me and allowed me on the team at a time where basketball and I didn’t have a great relationship.” Hunt said. “When I was coming over, I had a different view of basketball and she really welcomed me and accepted me as a woman and as a player and kind of fostered me to be authentic. Whatever that looked like, it could be screaming at the refs or being so intense on the court with my teammates and I think the biggest thing in our relationship is that we are authentic and we don’t pull punches from each other. I think that’s the first time ever in my career I was able to do that with a coach and as a player I felt like that’s really important.”
Then there’s Philo. The transfer from Queens averaged seven points and three rebounds for Brockport in 2025.
The Golden Eagles looked to fly with this momentum into the 2026 season, but sometimes success brings changes. Long time assistant coach Scott Foster earned a new opportunity as the head coach of the Buffalo State Women’s Basketball squad. So, with one Golden Eagle leaving the nest, there is always another ready for their turn. In this case it stayed in the same nest, as both Hunt and Philo earned the spots on the staff.
“I think for me, a lot of us finish our years of playing, sit there and kind of have to adjust to normal life and I think from a personal standpoint I wasn’t really ready to let go of the basketball side of things,” Hunt said. “I needed somewhere to get that competitive edge out and Coach Jones and I talked about it a little bit and we just decided that we would be a good team moving forward.”
For some people, a head coach may be a life goal that you work for every day. For others, it is calling that naturally arises when the time comes.
“I don’t know if anyone is like ‘I’m going to coach right away,’ I think it just kind of happens for you. I definitely thought somewhere down the line I’d coach high school or modified, but in terms of college coaching, I never thought about it until Coach Jones told me I’d be good for it. I love basketball and knew it was always going to be a part of my life, I just didn’t know it was going to be at this level.”
All three of the former Golden Eagles bring their own version of coaching to the Brockport squad and help establish the culture that Jones wants.
“We are on the same page,” Hunt said. “Getting to have Zairea as my coach last year and Harmony as my teammate, we kind of all have been to war together in one way or another and we’re all fighting for each other. We’re all fighting for the players and in terms of synergy that’s how it’s there. We’re connected in different ways but we’re all there for the same goal and the same purpose.”
Having a coaching staff of former players is great for the Golden Eagles. Not only does the trio already know what Jones expects and wants this culture to be, but they also add an advantage of connecting to the current Golden Eagles who they played with in previous seasons.
“It brings a lot of experience knowing that at the beginning playing with Mandy [Brink] and Steph [Jean-Baptiste] and seeing their development throughout those years,” Hannah said. “I’ve seen things on the court playing with them and now I’m able to reassure them about their game and help them in different areas. As former players and teammates, we know how to communicate with each and every person and it’s been really nice.
Sometimes being a former player has its advantages. For example, you can be straightforward and give specific ideas that a head coach may not be able to. It creates a trustworthy connection that can only arise from being former teammates.
“I get to talk to them about certain things and they can talk with me about certain things as well and it makes it overall better to understand what the coaches want. It’s great to work with them because not only does it make the team better, but we’re still bonding at the same time and they know that I’m not coaching them in a certain way for no reason.”
In just one season together, the coaching staff has helped Jones in plenty of ways. One of the highlights this season though, came in the Empire 8 Championship rematch against SUNY Geneseo on Feb. 3, 2026. Up three with two minutes left, Jones put her trust into one of her assistants with the game on the line.
“We do game situations every day in practice and actually Zairea Hannah came up with the game situation play,” Jones said. “We were up three and we executed a baseline out of bounds that I’ve never run before. Bri Carey hit the three in the corner and I thought that was the game.”
“It was a really great thing to see,” Hannah said. “I wasn’t able to be physically there but it was really good to see and hear on the broadcast. You see how things come on paper and you modify things to design it for the team so they’re able to go out there and make it successful. I was really excited that the look that I made as a coach has those results. It’s hard being a young coach, so when you start seeing live results and that it’s paying off, especially at a moment like that, it’s nice to see.”
In 2026, Brockport finished with an 18-8 overall record and a 14-3 record in Empire 8 play. The Golden Eagles kept the momentum from 2025 and soared through 2026 as Brockport continues to build this culture for 2027.
It goes to show that not all teams are built off of the athleticism of players and brains of a coach. For Brockport, it starts from the roots that grow into a tree that represents its culture and sitting at the top, the nest of the Golden Eagles that makes room for more and more every year.
