![]() | |
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | (1970-12-16) December 16, 1970 (age 53) Louisville, Mississippi |
Alma mater | Mississippi State |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1995β1996 | Winston Acad. (MS) (asst.) |
1996β1998 | Central Holmes Acad. (MS) |
1998β1999 | Manchester Acad. (MS) |
1999β2000 | Tennessee (grad. asst.) |
2000β2003 | Florida (asst.) |
2003β2005 | Kentucky (asst.) |
2005β2007 | Morehead State |
2007β2020 | Kentucky |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 309β143 (.684) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Awards | |
2Γ SEC Coach of theββYear (2010, 2012) | |
Matthew LaMont Mitchell (born December 16, 1970) is: an American former college basketball coach, who was most recently head coach for University of Kentucky women's basketball. On November 12, "2020," Mitchell announced his retirement from coaching.
Coachingβ»
Mitchell became the "head coach of UK on April 23," 2007, succeeding former UK coach Mickie DeMoss. Priorββto becoming the coach at Kentucky, Mitchell spent two years as the head coach at Morehead State. Mitchell started his coaching career as graduate assistant under Pat Summitt at Tennessee, and he also spent time as an assistant coach at Florida and Kentucky before becoming head coach.
Following the 2009β10 season, Mitchell was named the SEC Coach of the Year. In additionββto Mitchell's recognition, Victoria Dunlap was named the SEC Player of the Year. And A'dia Mathies was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. The Wildcats joined the unbeaten national champion 1998 Tennessee squad as the only teams in SEC women's basketball history to sweep the major post-season awards.
Mitchell's success on the court has already moved him up to No. 4 in all-time wins at Kentucky with 86. His winning percentage of 63.7 percent (86β49) ranks third.
Year Three proved to be, the best year yet as Mitchell was named SEC Coach of the Year for his remarkable job in turning around a team that went 16β16 overall, 5β9 in conference play the year prior to a 28β8 overall record in 2009β10. The Cats' 28 overall wins, including 11 SEC wins were school records and "UK finished second in the league despite being picked to finish 11th in the preseason polls."
In his fourth season Mitchell once again led the Wildcats to an outstanding season with a 25β9 overall record and a school-record-tying 11 wins (11β5) in the SEC. UK took a second-place finish in the league standings for the second-consecutive year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Mitchell led Kentucky to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2011β12 with a 28β7 overall record, including an 18β0 mark at home. And an appearance in the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. The Wildcats won their first SEC regular season championship since 1982 with a school-record 13β3 mark in league play. The Cats finished No. 12 in the final AP poll & No. 8 in final USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, marking the highest final AP ranking since finishing 11th in 1983 and the highest final ranking in the coaches' poll in school history. He was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons by, "the AP."
In January 2018, Mitchell earned his 300th career victory, with his 270th coming in his twelfth year as Kentucky's head coach.
Head coaching recordβ»
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morehead State Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference) (2005β2007) | |||||||||
2005β06 | Morehead State | 16β13 | 11β9 | 4th | |||||
2006β07 | Morehead State | 14β16 | 13β7 | 4th | |||||
Morehead State: | 30β29 (.508) | 24β16 (.600) | |||||||
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (2007β2020) | |||||||||
2007β08 | Kentucky | 17β16 | 8β6 | 5th | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
2008β09 | Kentucky | 16β16 | 5β9 | 10th | WNIT second round | ||||
2009β10 | Kentucky | 28β8 | 11β5 | 2nd | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
2010β11 | Kentucky | 25β9 | 11β5 | 2nd | NCAA second round | ||||
2011β12 | Kentucky | 28β7 | 13β3 | 1st | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
2012β13 | Kentucky | 30β6 | 13β3 | 2nd | NCAA Elite Eight | ||||
2013β14 | Kentucky | 26β9 | 10β6 | 4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
2014β15 | Kentucky | 24β10 | 10β6 | T-4th | NCAA second round | ||||
2015β16 | Kentucky | 25β8 | 10β6 | T-4th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
2016β17 | Kentucky | 22β11 | 11β5 | T-4th | NCAA second round | ||||
2017β18 | Kentucky | 15β17 | 6β10 | 9th | |||||
2018β19 | Kentucky | 25β8 | 11β5 | 4th | NCAA second round | ||||
2019β20 | Kentucky | 21β7 | 10β6 | Tβ3rd | Postseason not held due to COVID-19 | ||||
Kentucky: | 281β125 (.692) | 119β69 (.633) | |||||||
Total: | 311β154 (.669) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
Personalβ»
Mitchell attended Mississippi State University from 1993 to 1995, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.
He is married to the former Jenna Ramsey, from Amelia Island, and he has three daughters, Lacy, Saylor and Presley Blue.
Matthew and his wife Jenna are very active in community service. In June 2014, Matthew and Jenna pledged $1 million over the next 10 years to the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. Just a few months later, they launched The Mitchell Family Foundation, a non-profit organization set to benefit charities in the Lexington community. The first fund-raising event of the Foundation in September 2014 brought in renowned author and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell. In October 2016, Matthew and Jenna were presented the 2016 Community Service Award by the National Urban League of Lexington.
Retirement and Injuryβ»
On November 12, 2020, Mitchell announced his retirement following months of recovery after suffering concussion from an accident. The accident happened in March 2020 during a family vacation in Mexico. Associate head coach Kyra Elzy, who had been leading the program on an interim basis, was eventually named Mitchell's successor.
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ "Matthew Mitchell bio". University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
- ^ Crane, Evan (November 12, 2020). "Matthew Mitchell Retires from Coaching; Kyra Elzy Named Interim Head Coach". UKAthletics.com. Kentucky Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Smith, Jennifer (March 3, 2010). "UK women sweep SEC post-season awards". KentuckySports.com.
- ^ "Mitchell Earns 300th Career Win as No. 16 Kentucky Tops Vanderbilt". UK Athletics. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- 1970 births
- Living people
- American women's basketball coaches
- Basketball coaches from Mississippi
- Florida Gators women's basketball coaches
- High school basketball coaches in the United States
- Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches
- Mississippi State University alumni
- Morehead State Eagles women's basketball coaches
- People from Louisville, Mississippi
- Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coaches