Dallas Wings Announce Major Changes to Jose Fernandez's Coaching Staff

It's almost an entirely new coaching staff in Dallas.

Mar 9, 2022; Fort Worth, TX, USA; South Florida Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez motions to his team during the first half of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament semifinals against the Houston Cougars at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Wings decided to make a coaching move after just one season of the Chris Koclanes experience, as they went just 10-34 despite a superstar rookie, Paige Bueckers, and a 4-time All-Star, Arike Ogunbowale, being on the roster.

They decided to hire a candidate who was a finalist for the job last year. Jose Fernandez, who spent 25 years coaching at the University of South Florida, led the program to a lot of success. He's hoping to bring that same level of success to the Wings.

On Friday, the team announced its full coaching staff, which comes days after Nola Henry accepted a job with the Las Vegas Aces. The four assistant coaches they announced are David Adkins, Camille Smith, Empress Davenport, and Mike Neighbors.

The reason for the delay in announcing the staff is that a lot of them come from the college ranks, where their seasons are just now wrapping up. They also announced a support staff of Justin Keller (assistant player development coach), LaMont Russell (director of player development), and Anthony Brammer (video coordinator).

Here is a little more information about each coach.

Introducing the 2026 Dallas Wings assistant coaches 🪽 pic.twitter.com/rkBPDyT1JP

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) March 27, 2026

David Adkins

David Adkins comes over after being an associate coach for the University of Washington women's basketball team for the last two seasons. Before that, he was the Director of Player Development for the Denver Nuggets and Grand Rapids Gold (2023-24), an assistant coach at the University of Maryland (2018-2021), and also had stops with the Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, and LA Clippers.

Washington went 22-11 this season, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to TCU.

Camille Smith

Camille Smith was with the Dallas Wings last season and will be the only holdover on the coaching staff. She was also a player development coach for the Wings in 2020. Smith entered coaching after playing 13 years in the WNBA, winning a championship with the Seattle Storm in 2010.

Smith was also an assistant under Wings GM Curt Miller while Miller was the head coach for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2024. She was also the head coach at Paul Quinn College a few years ago.

Mike Neighbors

Mike Neighbors was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks last year, where they went 21-23. Before that, he was the head coach at Arkansas from 2017 to 2025 and at the University of Washington from 2013 to 2017. He compiled an overall record of 246-155, which included five NCAA Tournament trips and a Final Four appearance in 2016.

Empress Davenport

Empress Davenport is a former player at Texas from 2012 to 2016, where she started 97 games. Since then, she's been an assistant coach at Lamar University (2018-2021), an assistant coach and recruiting director at UTSA (2021-2024), and an assistant/associate coach at Ole Miss (2024-26).