Arkansas Tech University Athletics

Daryl Fimple is entering his first season as head women's basketball coach at Arkansas Tech - marking a return to the program that was the genesis of his coaching career in 1995.

That year, then head coach, Joe Foley asked Fimple, a recently retired ATU men’s basketball player if he had an interest in coaching. Some 30 years later, that circle of Fimple and Golden Suns basketball is now complete as one of the winningest programs in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history announced its new leader on Monday, March 30, 2026.
 
An ATU alumnus, Fimple returns to Tech after a highly-successful head coaching career in the prep ranks in Arkansas that included stints at Lonoke High School (1999-2005) and North Little Rock High School (2005-26). For his prep career, Fimple won 668 games and was a six-time state champion at the highest classification of Arkansas high school girls’ basketball.
 
Prior to his arrival, North Little Rock had never won a state championship in girls’ basketball before and under Fimple, the Lady Charging Wildcats won the title in his first season (2006) and his last (2026), with four more state championships (2010, 2016, 2018 and 2022) in between.
 
Additionally, Fimple’s North Little Rock teams reached the state semifinals 17 times and the state championship game nine times. He would lead the Lady Charging Wildcats to 16 conference championships while 56 of his players signed scholarships to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level.

Fimple is a graduate from Alma High School and enrolled at Arkansas Tech in 1993.
 
A reserve guard with the Arkansas Tech men’s basketball program from 1993-95, Fimple helped the Wonder Boys win two Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships and reach the semifinals of the 1995 NAIA National Tournament, matching the best national tournament finish in program history.
 
Shortly after he decided to stop playing following his sophomore year, Fimple was invited by Foley to become a student assistant with the Arkansas Tech women’s basketball program.
 
Fimple accepted the life-changing apprenticeship under Foley, who is the all-time leader in basketball coaching victories at Arkansas Tech (456), a two-time NAIA national champion (1992 and 1993) and a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.