Louisiana softball hires alumna and longtime Alabama assistant as new coach

Former Alabama softball assistant coach Alyson Habetz has returned to her alma mater and was named coach at Louisiana-Lafeyette on Tuesday.

A Crowley, Louisiana, native, Habetz becomes the fifth coach in program history. She was a basketball and softball player for the Ragin' Cajuns from 1990-95, where she was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball and a softball All-American.

Habetz was a part of a Louisiana softball team that made it to its first Women's College World Series in 1993 and still is the 12th leading scorer for the women's basketball program.

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Prior to her college career, Habetz was the first girl in the state of Louisiana to play baseball, fighting state courts to do so. After college, she went onto the Women's Professional Baseball League. where she competed as a first baseman and pitcher with the Colorado Silver Bullets for three years and the Long Beach Aces for one. She joined Murphy and his staff at Alabama in 1998 after four years playing professional baseball.

Habetz was inducted into the University of Louisiana's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003, the Louisiana High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and the West Alabama Softball Hall of Fame in 2019. She will take over for Gerry Glasco, who recently became head coach at Texas Tech.

The move comes a year after Habetz announced her retirement from Alabama softball to help care for her mother. Habetz spent 25 years with Patrick Murphy and the Crimson Tide, joining Murphy in his first year, 1998. During her time with Alabama, Habetz helped lead the Crimson Tide to six SEC regular-season titles, five SEC Tournament championships, 14 Women's College World Series appearances along with a national championship in 2012.

At Alabama, Habetz primarily worked with outfielders, where she played a role in the career of All-Americans Haylie McCleney, Kelly Kretschman, Brittany Rogers and more.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alyson Habetz: Alabama softball assistant now head coach at Louisiana