Coach Contracts

URI Adds Varsity Women’s Lacrosse

To mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the Athletics Department announced that it will add women’s lacrosse as a varsity program during the 2024–25 season.

Expected to compete in the Atlantic 10, women’s lacrosse will become the 19th varsity team and 11th women’s team at URI. It is the first varsity program to be added since women’s rowing in 1996, the year that sport became NCAA-affiliated.

“The opportunity to provide more programs for our student-athletes is exciting and significant for the overall growth of the University,” said Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn.

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The future of URI basketball is set

URI men’s and women’s basketball teams are ready to make a ruckus on the national stage with new coaching contracts for both teams.

Tammi Reiss, the highly successful women’s head coach, signed a 10-year contract before the 2021–22 season ended.

“We extended this offer midway through the conference season to express to Tammi how much we appreciate the program she is building at URI,” said Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn. “In order to grow the program into a championship contender year in and year out, we felt it was important to make a long-term commitment.”

On March 18, the men’s program hired Archie Miller with a five-year contract. Miller has a storied pedigree in the Atlantic 10, winning two conference titles and having four NCAA Championship appearances in six seasons at Dayton.

“Archie’s goals for this program are the same as mine,” said Bjorn. “Not only do we want to win Atlantic 10 championships but we want to build a program that competes late into March each year. His passion and enthusiasm are contagious. I am so excited to partner with him in showcasing URI basketball on the national stage.” Miller has a record of 206-121 over 10 seasons as a head coach with the Flyers and Indiana, averaging more than 20 wins per year.

Since taking over at URI, Reiss has an overall record of 46-31, including a 29-16 record in Atlantic 10 play. Over the last two seasons, the Rams are 23-6 in-conference, and her .597 winning percentage is the best in program history. This season, URI qualified for the WNIT for the first time in program history, and just the second national postseason appearance.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will soon have the advantage of a state-of-the-art training facility, which will make the teams more competitive and serve as an asset in attracting top recruits. The Soloviev Basketball Practice Facility, with a lead gift from Stefan Soloviev, has garnered substantial support from leaders in the URI community, gaining $2.3 million in the last fiscal year to bring the total to-date to $7.9 million.