LADY TIGER BASKETBALL
Coaches
Mary King 1975-1976 Mary Kennerty King served as the first head coach of the Clemson women’s basketball and women’s tennis teams after Athletic Director Bill McLellan announced that the university would begin women’s programs in both for the 1975-76 season. King earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in secondary education from Clemson in 1973. She spent the next year teaching history and coaching girls’ basketball at Russell High School in Atlanta, GA before returning to Clemson as a graduate student. The women’s basketball team compiled a 14-11 record in its inaugural season under King, while the women’s tennis team went 10-6 in its first year. King continued to coach the tennis team for the next six years but handed over the reins to the basketball team to Annie Tribble.
Annie Tribble 1976-1987 Annie Tribble was named the head coach of the Lady Tiger basketball program on May 28, 1976 and held the position until February 28, 1987. She compiled an impressive 200-135 ledger at Clemson with a 348-147 record in 19 years of collegiate coaching. Seven times her teams collected 20 or more victories, and she guided the Lady Tigers to seven postseason tournaments. Prior to her arrival at Clemson, Tribble spent nine seasons at Anderson Junior College, where she directed the Trojans to three National Junior College Championships and one runner-up finish. She won over 82 percent of her games at Anderson, finishing with a 155-33 record. Player honors during Tribble’s reign include five AllAmericans and eight all-conference players. In addition, Tribble was named the South Carolina Coach-of-the-Year in 1977 and served as the coach of the South Team for the National Sports Festival III games in 1981. A member of many collegiate steering committees, Tribble was a guiding force on the United States Olympic Committee that was instrumental in selecting the 1976 U.S. Silver Medal team.
Jim Davis 1987-2005 Jim Davis spent 18 seasons at the helm of the Lady Tiger basketball program, guiding Clemson to 355 victories in 552 games. He brought the program into national prominence and left as the winningest basketball coach in Clemson history, men or women. He led the Lady Tigers to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 final national rankings. Davis is the only Clemson basketball coach to win the ACC Championship, leading the Lady Tigers to the tournament title in 1996 and 1999. He finished with 51 wins over top 25 teams, and his teams won at least 20 games in 11 of his 18 seasons with Clemson. Under Davis’ direction, 16 former Lady Tigers achieved All-ACC status. Included in the list was Jessica Barr, the 1994 ACC Player-of-the-Year. Davis coached Itoro Umoh, a former assistant coach under him, to three All-ACC seasons and former great Chrissy Floyd to four All-ACC seasons.
Davis also coached two ACC Tournament MVPs in Laura Cottrell and Umoh. Cottrell claimed the honors in 1996 when Davis led the Lady Tigers to their first ever ACC Championship. Umoh was named MVP in 1999 when Davis and the Lady Tigers claimed their second conference title. Clemson had four selections to the ACC’s 50-Year Anniversary team in 2002, and three of the four played under Davis. In 2002-03, Davis’ team did not make postseason play for the first time in 16 years under his direction. That is quite an accomplishment when you consider the duration of his tenure with the Lady Tigers. The 2001-02 season saw Davis win his 300th game at Clemson. The Lady Tigers finished the year with a 17-12 record overall, and another NCAA appearance. In the 2000-01 season, Clemson advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round, and the Lady Tigers finished the season with a 21-10 record overall. Clemson was ranked 22nd in both the USA Today and Associated Press final polls. The Lady Tigers also had four wins over top 25 teams. The 1999-2000 season Clemson finished with a 19-12 record overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round. The 1998-99 season was a record-breaking year as the Lady Tigers finished with a 26-6 record overall and the school’s second ACC Championship in four years. His team also advanced to the NCAA’s Final 16, his fourth visit to this level in his Clemson career. Clemson was also seeded second in the Mideast Region, the highest seed in the school’s history. The Lady Tigers also were ranked 10th in the final Associated Press poll, the highest finish for the Lady Tigers ever in that poll. The 1997-98 season was a record-breaking year as the Lady Tigers set the school record for most ACC wins (12) in a single season as Clemson finished with a 25-8 record overall. The Lady Tigers also went undefeated at home (13-0) for the first time in school history. The Lady Tigers finished 14th in the Associated Press poll and 21st in the USA Today listing. In 1996-97, Davis became the school’s winningest coach. He also guided the Lady Tigers to another NCAA Tournament appearance. The 1996-97 Lady Tigers finished ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today listing. At the 1996 ACC Tournament, Davis led his fourthseeded Lady Tigers to the championship with victories over North Carolina, Virginia, and Duke, the school’s first ACC Championship. Clemson finished the magical 1995-96 season with a 23-8 record overall, then tied for the second most victories in a season by a Clemson team. Clemson was seeded third in the 1996 NCAA Midwest region. The Lady Tigers also finished 14th in the 1996 final Associated Press poll. In 1991, Davis led the Lady Tigers to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight, before Clemson lost in the finals of the East Regional. It was the farthest Clemson ever advanced in a women’s postseason national tournament. The Lady Tigers concluded the 1990-91 season with a 22-11 record overall, and ranked 21st in the final Associated Press poll, and eighth in the final USA Today poll. The eighth-place ranking is the highest the Lady Tigers have ever been ranked in any poll at any time. In 1989 and 1990, the Lady Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final 16. In 1990, he was named ACC Coach-of-the-Year, the first of two selections (1994 the other) for Davis. In 1987-88, his rookie campaign at Clemson, Davis put his stamp on the Lady Tiger program in unprecedented fashion. In one short year, he tripled the number of wins of the 1986-87 team by turning a 7-21 club into a 21-9 squad in 1987-88, and it was also the best turnaround season in the history of the ACC. Davis became the third women’s basketball coach in Clemson history on April 1, 1987, another illustrious step in a career that saw him excel on every level of coaching from junior high school to head coaching at a major college. Jim Davis and winning are synonymous with one another, as every program he has ever been associated with turned out to be a success. One reason is his persistence in obtaining the best, and a knack for getting the best performance from each and every one of his players. Davis also preached the importance of academics to his student-athletes, a point verified by the fact that all fouryear players graduated during his tenure. Davis came to Clemson from Middle Tennessee State,
where he guided the Lady Raiders to a 19-8 record in his only year at the Ohio Valley Conference school. He accepted the position only 10 days before the season was to begin at MTSU, and after a 4-7 start, he guided the Lady Raiders to a 15-game win streak before losing to Tennessee Tech in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Prior to his stop at Middle Tennessee, Davis spent the 1985-86 season as an assistant coach with the Florida Lady Gator basketball program. Before joining the Florida staff, Davis spent six highly successful years at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tennessee. Davis put together one of the most successful stints ever in the junior college ranks by coaching Roane State’s Raiderettes to 127 wins against only 35 losses, which represents a .784 winning percentage. His teams won four Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association (TJCAA) divisional championships and one state championship, and were ranked in the top 10 by the National Junior College Athletic Association three times (1981, 1984, 1985). His biggest accomplishment was the 1984 team’s finish of 27-2 and the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship title. Davis was coach of the East squad in the 1984 NJCAA All-Star game in Hutchinson, KS. He also served in top academic and athletic positions such as chairman of the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department at Roane State and chairman of the TJCAA Women’s Basketball Committee. He was NJCAA regional director for Tennessee-Kentucky in both 1984 and 1985. Before entering the junior college ranks, Davis coached two years at Englewood (TN) Junior High School and 10 seasons in various Tennessee high schools, including stops at Madisonville High, Charleston High, and McMinn County High. His overall high school record was 197-93, a winning percentage of .679. Davis graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan in 1970 with a B.S. degree in health and physical education. After doing graduate work at East Tennessee State, he received his master’s degree in supervision and administration from Tennessee Tech in 1975. In 1996, Davis was inducted into the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association (TJCCAA) Hall-of-Fame. In the fall of 1996, he was inducted into Tiger Brotherhood, an honorary fraternity that promotes high standards of social and ethical conduct while recognizing in its members an earnest devotion to Clemson, coupled with the integrity of character commensurate with a typical Clemson gentleman or lady. Davis was also inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2008.
Cristy McKinney 2005-2010 Cristy McKinney served as head coach of the program for five seasons from 2005-06 until 2009-10. McKinney coached one of Clemson’s best players in Lele Hardy. McKinney coached Hardy to two All-ACC seasons and two ACC All-Defensive team selections. Hardy ended her career ranked fith in Clemson history in scoring, third in rebounding, and first in steals. Her 398 steals ranked 23rd in NCAA Division-I history when she ended her career in 2009-10. McKinney improved on the win totals in three of her five seasons, and led Clemson to its first home winning mark in ACC play since the 2002-03 season in 2009-10 when the Tigers went 4-3 in league play and 9-5 at home overall. Prior to her time at Clemson, McKinney spent nine seasons at Rice, where her teams won 20 or more games six times. McKinney attended NC State where she played under Kay Yow. McKinney still holds freshman scoring records for the Wolfpack, and she ended her career with more than 1000 points and 500 rebounds.
2010-11 CLEMSON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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