Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Devrinn Paul enters his third year as the head coach of the women's basketball team in the 2025-26 season. He is the sixth coach in program history and just the second coach since 2006. 

Paul has guided Rose-Hulman to a combined 24 wins in his first two seasons as head coach after the program won just 23 games over the previous four seasons combined. In his inaugural season in Terre Haute, Paul guided the Fighting' Engineers to a 10-win improvement over the previous season. 

Paul has been a member of the coaching staff at three Division One institutions, including Louisville, Cincinnati and Marshall. His stop at Louisville included two trips to the Final Four. 

Paul recently wrote, edited and released, on May 1, 2025, his first book titled “"Coaching the Winner Within, 7 Leadership Skills to Elevate Your Team and Your Life." To help promote and sell the book, Paul created an website to enhance the reader's experience that introduced individuals to the book and accompanying workbook. Throughout the book, Paul discusses his exposure to championship cultures that focus on preparation, humility, and leadership and his evolution of a coach while helping rebuild a program - learning how to recruit, develop talent, and elevate team chemistry. His marriage, plus a break from coaching and exposure to teaching helped develop his major life principle: Trust the Grind.

Paul earned his first role on a Division One coaching staff at Louisville under Jeff Walz where he spent four seasons working with the women's basketball program between 2008-2013, posting a 100-42 record and reaching the NCAA Division I National Championship game twice. He helped mentor future WNBA number one overall pick Angel McCoughtry and Shoni Schimmel, two of the five eventual WNBA Draft Picks that played for the Cardinals during his time on the staff. McCoughtry finished her career as Louisville's all-time program leader for points scored (2,779), scoring average (20.0 ppg) rebounding (1,261), steals (481), blocked shots (162), free throws made (552), free throws attempted (774), games played (139). 

In 2009, Louisville went 34-5 (14-2 in the Big East Conference) while finishing the season ranked seventh nationally in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Polls. Louisville advanced to its first-ever Elite Eight, Final Four and National Championship game during the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The team won 13 of its last 15 games on the season, with both losses coming to eventual national champion Connecticut. The 2009 team also featured current Arizona head coach Becky Burke. 

In 2013, Paul helped the Cardinals to a 29-9 record and a second national championship game appearance. Louisville’s run through the tournament included a shocking 82-81 win over Baylor and star Brittney Griner, earning the team a nomination for "Best Upset" at the 2013 ESPYs. The team followed up the historic upset by defeating Tennessee to advance to the Final Four. 

Following his time at Louisville, Paul spent three years at Marshall University from 2013-16. The team saw consistent improvement throughout his time in Huntington, improving from an 11-win team in his first season with the team to a 21-12 record in 2015-16. The 2016 team reached the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament by defeating defending champion Western Kentucky. The 21 wins were the most for the program since the 1986-87 season and have been surpassed just once since his departure. 

After working in the private sector and in public education, Paul returned to coaching in 2002-23 at Cincinnati under head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. 

Paul is a 2008 graduate of Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Ky., in Business Marketing with a minor in Journalism. He served as a student assistant coach with the men’s basketball program for five years while receiving his degree. 

He has since received two Master's degrees in Higher Education (Louisville, 2010) and Special Education Teaching 7-12 (Brooklyn College, 2020).

A Hempstead, N.Y., native, Paul moved to Louisville at age 9 and attended Waggener High School, where he played varsity basketball and football. He received a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation scholarship award in 2003 for football, and was first team all-district in 2002 and 2003.

Paul currently resides in Terre Haute, Indiana with his wife Gabrielle and their daughter Summer.