University of North Carolina at Pembroke Men's Basketball

After leading Lander to its most regular-season wins in 20 years, as well as a Peach Belt Conference Tournament title, as the head coach of the Bearcats in 2019-20, Drew Richards returned to Pembroke in March 2020 as the 16th head coach of the Braves, and heads into his sixth season leading the Black & Gold in the 2025-26 season. It is the second coaching stint at UNCP for Richards, who helped guide the Braves to a 113-43 (.724) record and four NCAA Tournament appearances as an associate head coach from 2014-19. The Braves compiled a 72-29 (.713) record against conference foes over that span, and captured the PBC regular season and tournament championships in both 2016-17 and 2017-18. His return to Pembroke has resulted in more success for the Black & Gold, leading the Braves to a 104-25 record over the last four seasons, including a ridiculous 73-9 clip in Conference Carolinas play, which has resulted in four regular season conference titles and two Conference Carolinas Tournament championships, and the program's first appearance in the Sweet 16 during the 2024-25 season. A native of Rogersville, Mo., Richards enjoyed immeasurable success as both a player and coach in the 10 years prior to his initial move to Pembroke. A four-year letterwinner at Missouri State, Richards played in 118 career games (69 starts) and helped the Bears compile a collective 80-49 (.620) record and three trips to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Following a stellar collegiate career, Rich

Having already attained a wealth of experience with previous coaching stops at two other collegiate institutions, including a one-year stint at Wingate during the 2021-22 campaign, Chris Sause begins his fourth season in 2025-26 as an assistant coach with the Braves. Sause played in 95 games as a 4-year letterwinner (3-time captain) at North Carolina Wesleyan, and helped pace the Battling Bishops to 68 wins from 2015-19, including an impressive 43-18 mark against USA South Conference foes. He shot better than 46 percent from the field across his career in Rocky Mount, as well as a 67.9 percent success rate from the free throw line. He also served as an intern and administrative assistant with the program for all four seasons as well. The Durham native and Voyager Academy graduate joined the Averett coaching staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2018-19 season and helped lead the Cougars to a wealth of success, including a 2020-21 campaign that saw the Cougars amass a 20-7 record, including a 15-2 mark in the always-tough USA South Conference. The success of the program during his time in Danville, Va., was also evidenced by a quartet of All-USA South selections as well. Wingate registered a 21-8 mark and a fourth-place finish in the South Atlantic Conference last season. Sause also enjoyed a stint as a scout and social media reporter for Phenom Hoop Report across the 2018-19 college basketball season as well. Sause earned bachelor's degrees in both business administration