Keitha Adams

Keitha Adams
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamUTEP
ConferenceC-USA
Record296–228 (.565)
Biographical details
Born (1967-02-13) February 13, 1967 (age 57)
Oxford, Kansas
Alma materSouthwestern College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987–1989Belle Plaine HS (asst.)
1991–1994Winfield HS
1994–1996Independence CC (asst.)
1996–2001Independence CC
2001–2017UTEP
2017–2023Wichita State
2023–presentUTEP
Head coaching record
Overall376–321 (.539) (college)
127–37 (.774) (junior college)
Tournaments1–2 (NCAA)
8–2 (WNIT)

Keitha Rachelle Adams (born February 13, 1967) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at UTEP.[1]

Prior to the 2006–07 season, Adams was known as Keitha Green.[2][3][4]

Coaching career

Adams began her coaching career in 1987 as a girls' basketball assistant coach at Belle Plaine High School in Belle Plaine, Kansas while studying at Southwestern College, from which she would ultimately graduate in 1989.[5] After graduating from Southwestern, Adams joined Winfield High School in Winfield, Kansas and coached softball, volleyball, and track before ultimately settling on basketball full-time in 1991.[6][7]

In 1994, Adams became a women's basketball assistant coach at Independence Community College; she was also a men's and women's tennis coach in the 1994–95 season.[5] Independence promoted Adams to head coach in 1996. In five seasons as head coach, Adams had a cumulative 127–37 record and two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference titles in 2000 and 2001.[5]

UTEP (2001–2017)

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) hired Adams as head women's basketball coach on April 20, 2001.[5] Adams coached at UTEP for 16 seasons and accumulated a 284–209 record, three Conference USA regular season titles (2008, 2012, 2016), one C-USA Tournament title (2012), two NCAA tournament appearances (2008 and 2012), and two WNIT appearances (2014 and 2016)—the only such titles and postseason bids in program history.[5]

Following a 24–7 season in 2013–14 and appearance in the 2014 WNIT, UTEP signed Adams to a six-year contract extension.[5]

In her final season as head coach, UTEP went 8–23 season in 2016–17.

At UTEP, Adams created a mentorship program that helped ensure a high graduation rate among her players.[8] Adams is credited with building a successful women's basketball program that also "encourages interaction between players and fans."[9] She was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.[10] In 2016, she was recognized as the Conference USA Coach of the Year.[11]

Wichita State (2017–2023)

Adams resigned from UTEP[12] to become head coach at Wichita State on March 29, 2017.[13]

UTEP (2023–present)

In 2023, Adams returned as head coach for UTEP.[14]

Head coaching record

The following table shows Adams' head coaching record at the NCAA Division I level. Source:[15][16]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UTEP Miners (Western Athletic Conference) (2001–2005)
2001–02 UTEP 3–25 1–17 10th
2002–03 UTEP 10–19 5–13 9th
2003–04 UTEP 16–13 10–8 4th
2004–05 UTEP 12–17 7–11 T–7th
UTEP (WAC): 41–74 (.357) 23–49 (.319)
UTEP Miners (Conference USA) (2005–2017)
2005–06 UTEP 14–15 6–10 T–7th
2006–07 UTEP 22–8 10–6 T–4th
2007–08 UTEP 28–4 16–0 1st NCAA second round
2008–09 UTEP 18–12 11–5 2nd
2009–10 UTEP 16–16 6–10 10th
2010–11 UTEP 16–14 7–9 9th
2011–12 UTEP 29–4 15–1 1st NCAA first round
2012–13 UTEP 22–10 8–8 5th
2013–14 UTEP 29–8 12–4 3rd WNIT Runner-up
2014–15 UTEP 12–16 7–11 11th
2015–16 UTEP 29–5 16–2 1st WNIT Quarterfinals
2016–17 UTEP 8–23 5–13 T–11th
Wichita State Shockers (American Athletic Conference) (2017–2023)
2017–18 Wichita State 14–17 9–7 T-5th
2018–19 Wichita State 12–18 5–11 T-8th
2019–20 Wichita State 16–15 7–9 T-6th
2020–21 Wichita State 6–12 2–9 9th
2021–22 Wichita State 14–16 5–11 9th
2022–23 Wichita State 18–15 6–10 T-8th
Wichita State: 80–93 (.462) 34–57 (.374)
UTEP Miners (Conference USA) (2023–present)
2023–24 UTEP 12–19 6–10 T–6th
UTEP (C-USA): 255–154 (.623) 125–89 (.584)
Total: 376–321 (.539)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Wichita State will hire UTEP's Keitha Adams as women's basketball coach". kansas. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  2. ^ "Natasha Lacy To Join Women's Basketball Team". UTEP Athletics. May 3, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Bloomquist, Bret (April 6, 2017). "Keitha Adams says farewell to UTEP, assistant leaving too". El Paso Times. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  4. ^ "Keitha Adams Announces 2006–07 UTEP Womens Basketball Schedule". UTEP Athletics. September 12, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Keitha Adams". UTEP Athletics. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  6. ^ Knapp, Adam (November 3, 1996). "Transfer of power". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  7. ^ Frazier, Duane (November 29, 1991). "Great expectations". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "Keitha Adams". El Paso Inc. December 8, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  9. ^ "Another Great Season for Lady Miners". El Paso Times. March 20, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  10. ^ Brunner, Mark (April 12, 2010). "Adams Adds To Accomplishments With El Paso Women's Hall Of Fame Induction". News @ UTEP. Retrieved December 18, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Nicolas, Alex (March 7, 2016). "UTEP Women's Basketball: Keitha Adams named Conference USA Coach of the Year". Miner Rush. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  12. ^ Hoppough, Tomas. "Former UTEP women's basketball coach says deciding to leave was hard". KFOX. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  13. ^ "Keitha Adams Named Women's Basketball Coach". Wichita State Athletics. March 29, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  14. ^ Keitha Adams Returning as UTEP Women's Basketball Head Coach
  15. ^ 2016–17 UTEP Women's Basketball Factbook (PDF). UTEP Athletics. 2016. pp. 41–44. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  16. ^ "C-USA Standings – 2016–17". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2017.