Toros Athletics this month announced two new additions to the women’s basketball coaching staff: Asia Jordan and Joshua Hopkins. The duo will serve as assistant coaches under the guidance of interim head coach Nautica Morrow.
Jordan and Hopkins’ gametime experience will bring added heft to the team’s leadership, as both were standout players during their respective collegiate careers. After going 12-16 last year, it’s experience the program looks to take advantage of when the Toros travel to Washington state on Oct. 24 for a preseason matchup against Seattle University.
A homecoming for Jordan
Asia Jordan is no stranger to success on the court. As a forward for the Toros, the Lakewood native established herself as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the women’s basketball program.
Jordan played for the Toros from 2021–25, earning First Team All-CCAA honors in all four seasons. She helped lead CSUDH to CCAA regular-season and tournament championships and an NCAA West Regional title in her senior season, earning tournament MVP and West Regional Most Outstanding Player honors. As a junior, she averaged 14.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
In March 2025, Jordan capped off her senior year helping the Toros make a historic run toward an NCAA Division II National Championship. The team cut through Coker University and Union University en route to the finals against Grand Valley State University, but ultimately fell to the Lakers 58-70.
The loss finalized the Toros overall record at 36-2.
“I thought it was going to be my last time as far as basketball in general,” Jordan told The Bulletin.
The tournament final wasn’t the ending the team had expected after such a dominant season. Jordan stepped away from basketball for a year to live a “regular life outside of sports.”
But basketball kept calling. Although Jordan entertained coaching offers from other schools, she said wanted to stay close to home. Now, as an assistant coach, she has an opportunity to make history in a different way—it’s a career she never thought of in her “wildest dreams.”
“I didn’t think that I would come to a career where I’m coaching or giving my advice, or girls are looking up to me,” Jordan said. “I’m seeing the coaching side of how much time, effort, money, and energy that they put into the players.”
Jordan, who earned a journalism degree and previously served as The Bulletin’s sports editor, said her five years at CSUDH helped shape who she is today. “This has been my home…I’ve gotten to build so many relationships and connections with people.”
Jordan may have a storied place in the history of Toro women’s basketball, but she wants the ultimate story of the program to be one of determination and hard work.
“We’re gonna go 110% in everything that we do and fight to the end,” she said.
Hopkins: From Golden Eagle to Toro
Joshua Hopkins is trading the sidelines of a crosstown rival for a spot on the coaching staff, joining Toros Athletics after nine years at Cal State LA, where he helped lead the Golden Eagles to a CCAA conference championship last year.
Hopkins told The Bulletin the move to CSUDH offered an opportunity for professional growth and a chance to challenge himself in a new environment.
“I knew I had to make a decision to go elsewhere and break my comfortability,” Hopkins said. “This was the new choice for me to come and help build a program back to it being a national contender.”
Hopkins brings championship experience and a background in player development, sports administration and kinesiology. He said studying while coaching taught him the “time management and discipline” needed to succeed and broadened his understanding of career opportunities in sports.
“It also helped me open my eyes to be able to touch different avenues within the sport and within the profession,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said his goal is to do for Toros Athletics what he did for Cal State LA. “Being able to take that next step—to win it over here, win the conference outright, and then get to a national championship in a Final Four.”
Toros prepare for opener against Redhawks
This year’s squad is already seeing the impact of the new coaching staff, pointing to Jordan’s championship experience and Hopkins’ technical expertise as fresh perspectives shaping practices.
“I love all the coaches—I feel like I’m improving and getting better 1% each day,” said senior forward Adrienne Puletasi. “Just buying into everything they give and do for us—not only as players, but individuals—will prepare us for anything that life and basketball throws at us.”
Senior guard Camryn Washington echoed Puletasi’s excitement, saying she hopes the coaching staff’s experience will help carry the team to a CCAA championship.
“[Jordan and Hopkins] both were a part of winning programs and teams,” Washington said. “I know they will push us to be just as great.”
A’moree Ferrel, junior guard, described Jordan and Hopkins’ coaching style as “intense” and “competitive,” but said they are “genuinely dedicated” to helping the team “become the best versions of [themselves].”
“The fact that they were all former athletes also plays a huge role in the trust and respect we have for them,” Ferrel said.