Following a handful of years away from Stephenville, Nyka Wood has made her return to a place very familiar as head coach Mark Cumpian announced the hiring of Wood as assistant coach on June 10, 2025.
Wood returns to the Cowboy Capital of the World after most recently coaching at Akron from 2022-24. The four-year backstop is no stranger to Cumpian's staff as she served as a Graduate Assistant for the Texans in 2019 after wrapping up her playing career from 2015-18
"Having Nyka back in Stephenville is phenomenal," said Cumpian. "She was a terrific player and graduate assistant for me, and I'm thrilled to now have her on staff with me again. I'm looking forward to what she can bring to help us elevate our program even more."
During her time on the field, Wood was not only a force to be reckoned with behind the plate, but in the box as well. The North Richland Hills, Texas, native, batted .330 or better all four years highlighted by her .404 average her freshman season.
The general behind the dish began her playing career for the Purple and White in 2015 and played for head coach Julie Mata for two seasons. After Cumpian took over in 2017,Wood helped Tarleton State to an NCAA Tournament berth in his first year at the helm. The following season, Wood's senior campaign, the Texans notched 50 wins for the first time in program history marking the winningest season in program history. Across her four-year campaign for the Purple and White, the battery mate started every game she played in, missing just one game her senior year as she was on the field for 227 of the 228 games played from 2015-18.
During her time at the plate, Wood hit .374 tallying almost 700 at-bats finishing just shy of the century mark in runs with 98 following 258 career hits. She found the gap in the outfield plenty collecting 56 doubles. The four-year slugger hit 22 homers which is the third-most by any Texan since 2018 to spend at least four years on the diamond for Tarleton State.
Wood collected 191 RBI over her four years while drawing 82 base on balls for a .455 on-base percentage and was slugging .554 during her time. She also took 36 pitches earning a free trip to first base on hit by pitches.
Behind the plate she tallied 948 putouts including a single-season-high of 316 for the backstop her senior season. She was also credited with 134 assists and was perfect in the field her junior season.
Following her four-year playing career, Wood decided it wasn't time to leave the 'Ville just yet as she joined Cumpian's staff as a Graduate Assistant. She held that position from 2018-20 before packing things up and heading south for her first full-time coaching gig. During her two years on the Texans' staff, the team posted a record of 59-19, made another appearance at NCAA Regionals in 2019 and finished 2020 ranked 20th nationally in the NFCA poll.
In 2020, she was hired as an assistant coach for the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelina softball program, where she spent two seasons. In her first year in Kingsville, Wood helped the Javelinas reached their second consecutive NCAA Tournament. Her work with TAMUK's lineup helped the team post a .324 batting average, third-best in the Lone Star Conference and 29th in the nation. The Javs also had six All-LSC players, including four student-athletes on the All-Conference First Team.
After two years down south, Wood left the Lone Star State for Ohio as she took an assistant coaching job with Akron. In her first season with the Zips, she made a trip to the 'Ville for the 2023 Whataburger Invitational hosted by Tarleton State. During her time up north the Zips went 51-52 while she was on staff across two seasons.
Wood joined the Texans late in 2025 as a volunteer assistant coach, and helped the Texans lock up the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament, with a run to the WAC Tournament championship game.
