Houston women's basketball hires 3-time SEC Coach of the Year
03/27/2025 03:14 PM
The Houson women’s basketball team may not have made it to this year’s women’s March Madness tournament, but it’s still making big moves this month. The program has hired former Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell as the squad’s next leader and eighth coach in its history.
Mitchell beat out multiple other finalists for the opportunity to replace former Cougars boss Ron Hughey. Old Dominion’s DeLisha Milton-Jones and UTSA’s Karen Aston were among the other candidates Houston considered for the position, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Joseph Duarte.
The 54-year-old had been retired from women’s college basketball since 2020, leaving his spot open at Kentucky after a serious fall resulted in blood clots in his brain, which needed to be surgically removed.
Mitchell has three SEC Coach of the Year awards from his time with Kentucky, reflecting a 281-125 record, an SEC regular-season title, and nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including five Sweet 16 and three Elite Eight runs, over 13 seasons. He sits comfortably as the winningest coach in the Wildcats’ history books.
The Mississippi native’s collegiate coaching career began as a graduate assistant under the late great Pat Summitt at Tennessee before taking on assistant coaching jobs with Florida and Kentucky. He then moved on to spend two years in his first head coaching position at Morehead State before returning to take the reins for the Wildcats.
Mitchell already has over 300 coaching wins on his resume, currently sitting at 311-154 overall and counting as he makes his courtside return to try and clinch the Cougars’ first March Madness berth since 2011.
Houston’s coaching vacancy opened up after Hughey was pushed to resign following a disappointing 5-25 campaign. Hughey had been at the helm of Cougars women’s basketball since 2014 with minimal success, finishing with a record over .500 in only three seasons. Hughey concluded his 11-year tenure with a meager 140-195 overall mark.
The Houston women’s basketball team has made five total NCAA Tournament appearances dating back to 1988 but has not been competitive since the 2003-04 campaign, which is when the squad made its deepest-ever run behind coach Joe Curl and eventual WNBA standout Chandi Jones.
With an experienced leader like Mitchell, who has proven his ability to bring a program into the national spotlight, chances are that Houston’s women’s team can match the level of prominence seen on the men’s side sooner than later.
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