W O M E N’ S BASKETBALL
TCU HEAD COACH JEFF MITTIE TCU has since become a fixture in the national rankings, appearing at least one week in one of the major polls in seven of the last nine seasons. The 2003-04 campaign concluded with TCU posting a 25-7 record, which today stands as the top single-season mark in program history. One season before TCU posted its most successful season, Mittie pulled off perhaps his greatest coaching job by performing a one-eighty with his 2002-03 squad when it stood a mere 10-12 and appeared out of contention for a third consecutive NCAA bid. The squad entered the C-USA Tournament as the fifth seed with a 15-13 record and went on to oust the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to the crown. It was the third straight year Mittie and the Frogs won a conference title of some sort. In the NCAA Tournament, TCU reached the second round and gave eventual national champion Connecticut one of its toughest battles of the tournament. The Frogs actually took a halftime lead over the Huskies, becoming only the sixth team in the five seasons prior to lead Connecticut at the half of a home game. Mittie’s squad finished the year with a 20-14 mark. Mittie continued to establish the Frogs as being one of the nation’s premier defensive squads in 2002-03, and it was exemplified Dec. 30, 2002, when TCU set an NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a game by holding Texas Southern to just 16. The unbelievable performance shattered a nearly 20-year-old standard previously held by Jackson State. The Frogs ended up in the top 20 nationally in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots per game. In 2001-02, Mittie captured the C-USA Coach of the Year award after the Frogs claimed the C-USA regular-season championship in TCU’s first stint with the league. He also guided the Frogs to their first national ranking in program history and their second straight 20-win season despite the fact that just one starter returned from the previous year. The 2000-01 season was revolutionary for TCU, as Mittie led the Frogs to their first NCAA Tournament showing. Mittie’s squad, though, was not satisfied with simply making the tournament. The Frogs upended the East Region’s sixth seed Penn State, a Final Four team the year before. The victory was the program’s first against a ranked school and the triumph by the 11th-seeded Frogs was the biggest first-round upset of the 2001 tournament. The 2000-01 Frogs also rewrote the TCU single-season records book by breaking more than a dozen school marks. Thanks to an incredible 25-8 record, the Frogs’ win total crushed the previous Division I best of 16 set the two prior seasons. Mittie was also tabbed the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for leading TCU to the regularseason and conference tournament titles. It was the first conference title of any kind for the Frogs. Appointed to the TCU post Aug. 19, 1999, Mittie is the sixth head coach to guide the Frog women’s basketball program since the 1977-78 season. Mittie’s .663winning percentage at TCU easily ranks as the best in school history thanks to a 196-95 record. He is also the all-time winningest coach in program history, a distinction he claimed with a 74-49 victory over UAB on Feb. 28, 2003. Remarkably, it took Mittie less than four seasons to better Hall of Famer Fran Garmon, who spent 10 years at the helm. Prior to his move to Cowtown, Mittie pieced together a 75-42 (.641) mark in his four campaigns at Arkansas State, posting a pair of 20-win seasons and winning 17 or more contests in each of his four years with the Lady Indians. Twice his teams topped the Sun Belt Conference in grade point average as well. In his final season at Arkansas State, Mittie’s squad finished 18-14 with victories over a pair of ranked foes in Virginia (No. 8) and Kansas (No. 19). His team eventually advanced to the final eight of the Women’s NIT. Prior to taking over the Arkansas State program, Mittie fashioned a 76-17 (.817) mark in three years as head coach at Missouri Western. In 1995, Mittie guided the school to a remarkable 31-3 slate, which included a 15-1 conference record, and he led the club to the Division II Final Four. That squad finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally and captured both the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season and tournament championships. For his efforts, he was tabbed league and district Coach of the Year, and was among eight finalists for the national honor. Mittie garnered league Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career in 1994 when his Griffons posted a 29-3 overall and 16-0 league record and captured the MIAA regular-season title. His club also made a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight. Before assuming the head coaching duties, Mittie served one season as assistant basketball and baseball coach at the school. Mittie saw several of his players pick up numerous honors during his three-year stay at Missouri Western. Two of his standouts, Tonya Foster and Amy Towne, were all-conference, all-region and All-America selections during their careers. Both Foster and Towne set school records for single-season points scored, field goal percentage and blocked shots. They also set marks for career field goal percentage and blocked shots. Seven squad members picked up Academic All-MIAA honors and two snagged GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District VII accolades. Mittie has only had one losing season and has averaged just under 21 wins and 10 losses per season. Thirteen times Mittie has advanced his teams to either the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments, where he is a combined 15-13. A native of Blue Springs, Mo., Mittie earned his undergraduate degree in sports management from Missouri Western in 1989 and his master’s in sports management from the United States Sports Academy in Mobile, Ala., in 1992. Mittie and his wife, Shanna, are the proud parents of three children, daughters Logan and Madison and son Jordan.
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NINE NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES IN 13 YEARS
M I T T I E Y E A R - BY-Y E A R Year School 1992-93 Missouri Western 1993-94 Missouri Western 1994-95 Missouri Western Totals 3 Years
W L Pct 16 11 .593 29 3 .906 31 3 .912 76 17 .817
1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 Totals
17 20 20 18 75
Arkansas State Arkansas State Arkansas State Arkansas State 4 Years
1999-00 TCU 2000-01 TCU 2001-02 TCU 2002-03 TCU 2003-04 TCU 2004-05 TCU 2005-06 TCU 2006-07 TCU 2007-08 TCU 2008-09 TCU 2009-10 TCU 2010-11 TCU 2011-12 TCU 2012-13 TCU Totals 14 Years Career 21 Years
16 14 25 8 24 7 20 14 25 7 23 10 19 12 21 11 23 12 20 11 22 9 22 11 16 14 9 21 285 161 436 220
M I T T I E I N T H E P O ST S E A S O N Year Tourney 1994 NCAA (II) 1995 NCAA (II) 1999 WNIT 2001 NCAA 2002 NCAA 2003 NCAA 2004 NCAA 2005 NCAA 2006 NCAA 2007 NCAA 2008 WNIT 2009 NCAA 2010 NCAA 2011 WNIT
10 8 10 14 42
Opponent Washburn Missouri Southern North Dakota State Abilene Christian Washburn Florida Southern North Dakota State Stonehill New Hampshire Kansas State Memphis Penn State Louisiana Tech Indiana Duke Michigan State Connecticut Temple Georgia Oregon Texas A&M Rutgers Ole Miss Boise State Texas Tech Colorado South Dakota State Dayton Oral Roberts
.630 .714 .667 .563 .641 .533 .758 .774 .588 .781 .697 .613 .656 .657 .645 .710 .667 .533 .300 .639 .665
Score W/L 66-62 W 75-73 W 74-91 L 79-71 W 73-57 W 79-77 W 67-74 L 76-66 W 78-65 W 83-70 W 86-101 L 77-75 W 59-80 L 55-45 W 66-76 L 50-47 W 66-81 L 70-57 W 71-85 L 55-58 L 69-65 W 82-48 L 74-88 L 85-56 W 81-74 W 90-96 (ot) L 55-90 L 66-67 L 74-78 L