Melissa Lynne McFerrin (born December 20, 1960)[1] is an American retired college basketball coach, having most recently served as head coach of the Memphis Tigers women's basketball team. McFerrin played point guard in college basketball at the University of Missouri from 1979 to 1983, reaching the Sweet 16 in 1982. She announced her retirement from coaching in February 2021.[2]
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1960 Cassville, Missouri |
| Playing career | |
| 1979–1983 | Missouri |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1983–1984 | Wayland Baptist (grad asst.) |
| 1984–1990 | Central Michigan (asst.) |
| 1990–1997 | Ohio State (asst.) |
| 1997–1999 | New York Liberty (asst.) |
| 1999–2000 | Washington Mystics (asst.) |
| 2002–2004 | Minnesota (asst.) |
| 2005–2008 | American |
| 2008–2021 | Memphis |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 243–269 (.475) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Patriot League regular season (2008) | |
| Awards | |
| Patriot League Coach of the Year (2008) | |
Early years
editMcFerrin grew up in Cassville, Missouri, and participated on the track team in high school, competing in the high jump where she placed first in class A in 1978.[3]
College
editMcFerrin attended the University of Missouri between 1979 and 1983, earning a letter in basketball each of her four years as the starting point guard for the Tigers.[4] She help the team to the Big Eight title in 1983 and two NCAA tournament appearances in 1982 and 1983. In her senior year, she was honored as the Big Eight Scholar Athlete, graduating with a bachelor's degree in secondary education. In 1983 she earned all big eight honorable mention in 1983.[5]
Coaching
editAfter college, she started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wayland Baptist. After a single season at Wayland Baptist, she spent six years as an assistant at Central Michigan.[6] While at Central Michigan she earned a master's degree in physical education in 1988.[7] McFerrin then moved on to Ohio State where she served as an assistant for seven years. During her time at Ohio State the team won the Big Ten in 1993, and finished as national runner-up in the NCAA tournament.[4] She served as the recruiting coordinator during her tenure at Ohio State. The 1992 recruiting class was ranked as the number one recruiting class in the nation, in no small part to the fact that it included Katie Smith in the class.[8]
In 1997, McFerrin moved to the professional ranks, joining the New York Liberty as an assistant coach.[9] In her three years at the Liberty the team finished as runner-up twice, losing to Houston in the finals in 1997 and 1999. She then moved on to the Washington Mystics where she stayed for three years, two of which as the general manager. In her first season as general manager. the Mystics made the WNBA playoffs for the first time ever.[10]
In 2002, McFerrin returned to the college coaching ranks, initially as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota, and then as an associate head coach for the same team.[5][7]
In 2004, McFerrin took on her first head coaching position accepting the position at American University.[4] She remained at American for four seasons. In her final year at American, the American Eagle she finished first in the Patriot League and earned an invitation to the WNIT tournament. She was named Patriot League Coach of the year.[11][12]
McFerrin became the head coach at the University of Memphis in 2008. After an initial losing season, the team put together four consecutive winning seasons and four consecutive postseason invitations, making the finals of the WBI in 2010 and earning invitations to the WNIT in the next three years. In 2013 Memphis became part of the American Athletic Conference. The team has one postseason appearance in the four years since joining the American conference, a WNIT invitation in 2016.[13]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Eagles (Patriot League) (2004–2008) | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | American | 12–16 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2005–06 | American | 7–21 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2006–07 | American | 13–19 | 6–8 | T-4th | |||||
| 2007–08 | American | 18–14 | 11–3 | 1st | WNIT 1st Round | ||||
| American: | 50–70 (.417) | 28–28 (.500) | |||||||
| Memphis Tigers (Conference USA) (2008–2013) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | Memphis | 12–18 | 5–11 | T-9th | |||||
| 2009–10 | Memphis | 20–14 | 10–6 | T-2nd | WBI Finals | ||||
| 2010–11 | Memphis | 21–13 | 8–8 | 6th | WNIT 1st Round | ||||
| 2011–12 | Memphis | 25–8 | 13–3 | 2nd | WNIT 2nd Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Memphis | 17–15 | 8–8 | T-5th | WNIT 1st Round | ||||
| Memphis Tigers (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2021) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | Memphis | 13–18 | 6–12 | 7th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Memphis | 14–17 | 7–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Memphis | 18–13 | 12–6 | 4th | WNIT 1st Round | ||||
| 2016–17 | Memphis | 14–16 | 7–9 | T-5th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Memphis | 10–20 | 5–11 | T-8th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Memphis | 11–20 | 5–11 | T-9th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Memphis | 14–17 | 5–11 | T-11th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Memphis | 4–10 | 2–7 | ||||||
| Memphis: | 193–199 (.492) | 93–114 (.449) | |||||||
| Total: | 243–269 (.475) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 26 Sep 2015.
- ^ "Melissa McFerrin steps down as Memphis women's basketball head coach". WREG. February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ "1976 MSHSAA Class A Girls State Outdoor Track Meet" (PDF). www.mshsaa.org. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ a b c "AUEAGLES.COM: Melissa McFerrin - Head Women's Basketball Coach". www1.american.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ a b "Melissa McFerrin's Joins Gopher Women's Basketball Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "Centralight, July 1984 — Central Michigan University History". cmuhistory.cmich.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ a b "Melissa McFerrin Promoted to Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach". Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "Melissa McFerrin's Joins Gopher Women's Basketball Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2017-07-05.
- ^ "New York Liberty 1997 Season - New York Liberty". New York Liberty. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "American University". aueagles.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "Archived Announcements, Office of the President | American University, Washington, DC". www.american.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "2009-10 Memphis Women's Basketball Information Guide". issuu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
- ^ "Tigers Announce Contract Extension for Melissa McFerrin". University of Memphis. Retrieved 2017-06-29.