Southern Arkansas University Athletics

Julio Pacheco enters his third year at the helm of a rebuilt Lady Mulerider Basketball program.

Pacheco and Southern Arkansas, with key returners Kimberly Crown and Anna Djedjemel, are eyeing a bounce back campaign in 2017-18 after just six wins with a young roster across a tough Great American Conference schedule last season. With a revamped squad featuring seven newcomers and four returners, Pacheco looks to return to the Great American Conference Tournament after missing out on postseason play a year ago.

In his previous two campaigns, Pacheco has averaged just under 13 wins a season, including 19 wins, a program record in the NCAA Division II era, and a trip to the Great American Conference Tournament Semifinals in 2015-16; his first year on the job. For that effort, Pacheco was tabbed as the Great American Conference’s Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year.

Contrastingly, Southern Arkansas won just 23 games (six wins per season) and never finished higher than eighth in the league standings in the four seasons before his hiring.

In his first season, Southern Arkansas finished the year ranked in the top five of 17 statistical categories in the Great American Conference. SAU owned the top marks in steals per game (8.3) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.301), while ranking in the top five in scoring margin (+6.2 | 2^nd), field goal percentage (.448 | 2^nd), field goal percentage defense (.386 | 2^nd), offensive rebounding percentage (.318 | 2^nd), scoring offense (75.7 ppg | 3^rd), three-point field goal percentage (.346 | 3^rd), rebounding margin (+1.9 | 3^rd), rebounding offense (39.5 rpg | 4^th), rebounding defense (37.6 rpg | 4^th), assists per game (14.9 apg | 4^th), turnover margin (+2.04 | 4^th), scoring defense (69.5 ppg | 5^th), blocked shots per game (2.8 | 5^th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0 | 5^th), and defensive rebounds per game (27.5 | 5^th).

Under Pacheco’s guidance, the Lady Muleriders did not lose back-to-back games that season and produced a +21.5 scoring margin in wins immediately following a loss. SAU posted a 10-3 road record that included eight wins against GAC opponents and their first victory over Harding in Searcy in a dozen years.

That trip to Bartlesville saw Southern Arkansas capture its first tourney win in nine years and just the third postseason tournament win in the school's twenty-one year membership in NCAA Division II.

Additionally, Rosa Bryant (First Team) and Shana Holmes (Honorable Mention) claimed All-GAC honors with Bryant’s first-team selection marking the first such accolade for a Lady Mulerider since the 2009-10 season. Bryant won the League’s Player of the Week honor twice in 2015-16 and was once named the United States Basketball Writers of America Women’s Division II National Player of the Week (November 15-22).
 
Pacheco, became the sixth head coach in program history when he was hired on April 8, 2015, and came to SAU after a year away from the coaching world, but in the seven years prior to his arrival in Magnolia, Pacheco was the top assistant at fellow Great American Conference opponent and perennial national contender, Arkansas Tech University.

In his time at Tech, Pacheco helped lead the Golden Suns to four regular season conference championships (Gulf South: 2009-10, 2010-11; Great American: 2011-12, 2012-13), four NCAA Tournament appearances (2007-08, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13), three conference tournament championships (GSC: 2009-10, 2010-11; GAC: 2012-13), and consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight (2009-10, 2010-11).
 
In terms of wins and losses, Pacheco helped lead ATU to an outstanding 168-42 (.800) record in his seven years on the sidelines which included an incredible 97-7 record at home. Overall, the Golden Suns would enjoy four seasons with 20 or more wins and two years with 30 or more wins. In the 10-11 and 11-12 campaigns, Arkansas Tech would be ranked No.1 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top-25 for a total of five weeks.
 
A native of Itajaí, Brazil, Pacheco helped Arkansas Tech establish a strong international recruiting base and was instrumental in the signing and developing of All-American Golden Suns players, Natalia Santos and Roselis Silva.
 
Prior to his time at Tech, Pacheco spent two years as a head boys’ coach of one of the top high school clubs (relative to the AAU system) in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In 2005, Pacheco was selected to coach the Santa Catarina state team where he guided that under-16 boys’ team to a National Championship.
 
Heavily involved on the camp circuit, Pacheco has worked camps for Arkansas Tech, the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and also the Red Auerbach Basketball School, held at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. At each of these camps, Pacheco served as a coach.
 
Pacheco began his coaching career in 2002 as he served as student assistant at Kennesaw State University under then head coach Tony Ingle.
 
An undergraduate of the Federal University of Santa Catarina with a degree in Physical Education, Pacheco went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from Arkansas Tech University.  
Additionally, Pacheco became a citizen of the United States of America on January 15, 2016, during his first season as head coach at Southern Arkansas.

Pacheco is married to the former Christine Dalina and the couple have two children, Gillyan (12) and Isabella (5).