Precious Caldwell steps down as Richland Northeast girls basketball coach

Richland Northeast’s Precious Caldwell is calling it quits after two decades in coaching.

Caldwell said she plans on pursuing a career in administration and spending more time watching her son Alex, a sophomore on the RNE boys team, finish his high school career.

Caldwell spent the past four seasons at RNE but also was coached at Eau Claire, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Edisto, and Elloree in her 19 seasons as a head coach. She also spent three seasons as an assistant, including one year at her alma mater Claflin.

Caldwell was 178-122 in her career, won four region titles and made one lower state championship appearance. She was the head coach for the Carolinas All-Star Classic in 2015.

Before coaching, Caldwell was a standout at Timmonsville High School before going on to play at Claflin. She was part of Claflin’s two runner-up appearances in the NAIA tournament and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2011.

Caldwell’s departure is the third among girls’ basketball coaches in the Midlands, joining Spring Valley’s Anne Long and Lower Richland’s Debbie Stroman.

Stroman will remain at LR and was named the school’s athletic director earlier this month.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Precious Caldwell steps down as Richland Northeast girls basketball coach."