Takayo Siddle returned to the Port City as the new head coach of the Seahawk program on March 13, 2020, and has it back humming.
Siddle, 36, is making his fifth coaching stop and first as a head coach. He previously served as an assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy, Gardner-Webb, UNCW and NC State. He is the 13th head coach in UNCW history.
siddle_takayo_balplIn three seasons at the helm, Siddle has piloted the Seahawks to a 56-28 overall record, a regular season title in the CAA, two in-season tournament crowns and the 2022 College Baskeball Invitational Championship. The Seahawks have advanced to the last two CAA championship games.
Siddle played for and coached with Coach Kevin Keatts and served as interim head coach for the Seahawks in March of 2017 before joining his longtime mentor on the NC State bench in Raleigh. Siddle is a tireless recruiter and was tabbed the No. 4 recruiter in the country in 2019.
During his three-year stay at UNCW from 2014-17, Siddle helped the Seahawks return to prominence in the CAA, winning three regular season championships and two CAA Tournament crowns (2016, 2017).
The Seahawks went 72-28 overall in Siddle’s three years and advanced to the postseason all three campaigns, including the CIT (2015), NCAA (2016) and NCAA (2017). He recruited five All-CAA selections as the Seahawks went 48-14 in the circuit.
Siddle moved on to NC State and the success followed. The Wolfpack averaged more than 80 points per game in Siddle’s first two seasons with the Pack. Prior to that, the last NC State team to average more than 80 points in a season was the 1995-96 team.
Siddle played a key role in the emergence of Pack guards Markell Johnson and Braxton Beverly. He developed Johnson into a premier playmaker in the NCAA. Johnson a Second-Team All-ACC selection in 2019-20, led the ACC in assists as a sophomore (2017-18) and senior (2019-20) and became just the third-player in NCSU history to score 1,100 career points, rack up 600 career assists and record 150 steals. Beverly, meanwhile, signed with the Pack a few months after Siddle joined the staff and drained 136 three-pointers in his first two seasons, the most by an NC State player through their sophomore year.
After Siddle’s arrival, the Wolfpack featured one of the best offensive attacks in the ACC. NC State ranked in the top-40 in the NCAA in tempo by KenPom.com in the first two seasons.
siddle_takyoIn addition, the Wolfpack was dangerous from long distance the last three seasons. In 2018-19, NC State hit 292 three-pointers, the second-most in program history. The 2017-18 NC State team set a program record when it hit a 19 three-pointers in a win over Jacksonville. One of Siddle’s outside threats, junior guard Devon Daniels, raised his scoring average from 9.0 ppg to 12.7 ppg in 2019-20.
Siddle launched his coaching career in 2009-10 as a member of Keatts’ staff at Hargrave, beginning a long, successful relationship with his mentor. The Tigers featured 12 NCAA Division I signees, including five in the ACC, SEC, Big East and Big Ten Conferences.
Siddle then spent four years at Gardner-Webb. He was hired as an assistant coach at GWU by former head coach and current Ohio State skipper Chris Holtmann, who served as an assistant coach during Siddle’s freshman, sophomore and junior years in Boiling Springs.
Siddle followed Keatts to the North Carolina coast in the summer of 2014 and helped the Seahawks compile a 72-28 record with three postseason berths in as many years from 2015-17. The Seahawks captured the 2015 and 2016 CAA titles and advanced to play in the NCAA Tournament in Providence (vs. Duke) and Orlando (vs. Virginia).
A native of Eden, N.C., Siddle was a prep standout for Coach John Harder at Morehead High School, averaging 27.0 points, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals in his senior season with the Panthers.
