Laura Busby Season 2024
Laura Busby, an All-American forward during her collegiate playing days at West Virginia, was hired as an assistant coach at LSU on Jan. 3, 2020. Busby will work on LSU’s offensive tactics while honing the skills of LSU’s attackers.
In her first season with LSU, Busby helped the Tigers increase their goal output by 10 from the year before she arrived. Potent offensive catalysts Tinaya Alexander (21 points) and Molly Thompson (10 points) led the scoring charge for LSU during the 2020-21 season. LSU scored a total of 21 goals in 19 games, but that number was boasted by a strong finish during the spring portion of the season in which LSU scored 11 goals in eight games. The Tigers’ offense returns 60 of its 62 offensive points from a season ago heading into the fall of 2021.
Busby played under Hudson during the 2014 and 2015 seasons as a member of the Colorado Pride semi-pro team in the W-League. Hudson was an assistant in 2014 before taking over as the head skipper in 2015. The Pride won the conference title in 2015 and Hudson had four of her players drafted into the National Women’s Soccer League in her two years with the Pride. Four of Hudson’s players off the Pride’s roster played professionally overseas, and four members were named to the national teams for Australia and the United States for the 2016 Olympic Games and 2016 FIFA U20 World Cup. The Pride beat the Seattle Sounders for the 2015 West Conference Championship before falling to the Washington Spirit Reserves in the national championship.
Hudson and Busby teamed up as coaches for the first time in 2017 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and helped the Mountain Lions advance to the NCAA semifinals with a closing record of 17-5-1 on the season. The 2017 UCCS coaching group was named the Regional Staff of the Year in the South Central Region as they helped a UCCS program that went 3-12-1 in 2016 prior to their arrival to the aforementioned 17-5-1 record in 2017, and they captured the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament title for the first time in program history that season as well.
Busby comes to Baton Rouge after serving as the head coach at Jacksonville University the past two seasons. During her time in Jacksonville, Busby helped Sarah Alexander (2018) and Olivia Abdallah (2019) to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshmen teams. Abdallah led the Dolphins in goals in 2019 with five on the season becoming the first freshmen to lead Jacksonville in scoring since 2014.
Busby had her first collegiate coaching position only a year and half removed from her played days at West Virginia (2001-04). She was an assistant coach at Purdue University for three seasons (2006-08) before moving to Bucknell University as an assistant coach from 2009-11. She was a member of the Purdue coaching staff that helped the Boilermakers to the Big Ten Tournament title in 2007.
Busby, a native of Pottstown, Pa., graduated with her bachelor’s in physical education from West Virginia University in 2004, and then earned her master’s in athletic coaching education from WVU in 2005. She earned four letters for the WVU women’s soccer team from 2001-04 helping the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament in each of those years. She was a two-time NSCAA Scholar All-American in 2003 and 2004, and she earned NSCAA Third Team All-America honors during her senior season. She scored a total of 31 goals, 15 of which were gamewinners, and registered 23 assists during her four-year career for a total of 85 points. After her collegiate playing days, Busby turned professional and played for Pitea IF in Sweden. She also played in several semi-pro leagues in the states with the Chesapeake Charge and Colorado Pride. She was named the 2013 Women’s Pro Soccer League All-East Player of the Year as a member of the Charge.
Busby will be joined by her husband, Hubert Busby Jr., in Baton Rouge.