Connie Sue Yori (born October 3, 1963) is the former head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team representing the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I competition. She formerly coached

Loras College Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. Loras offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

school) from 1990 to 1992 and Creighton from 1992 to 2002. In 2009–10, Yori was named the

Naismith College Coach of the Year The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

, AP College Basketball Coach of the Year and the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

Coach of the Year after guiding Nebraska to a 32–2 record and the school's first-ever trip to the

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Div ...

Sweet 16.

Early life

High school

Yori was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, and attended

Ankeny High School Ankeny High School is a public high school located in Ankeny, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Ankeny Community School District, and serves grades 10 through 12. History AHS opened in 1913 and graduated six seniors in the spring of 1914 ...

Ankeny, Iowa Ankeny (, ) is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States and a suburb of the state capital of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, as part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Ankeny ...

, where she graduated in 1982. In her six-on-six high school basketball career (girls' rules were different back then, using six players instead of five), Yori compiled 3,068 points in her career. In 1980 the Hawkettes were state champions and in 1981 were runners–up. She was also a star

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player, garnering four First Team All-State selections as a shortstop while leading Ankeny to three state championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Yori is a two-time inductee into the Iowa Girls' High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame—once as a basketball player, the other as a softball player.

College

Yori attended

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

and played basketball for four years. She scored 2,010 points, which ranks third all-time in Bluejays' women's basketball history, and she is also near (or at) the top of numerous other school records as well, resulting in her induction to the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame and having her jersey number (#25) retired: *First: Career scoring average (20.3 ppg), points in a game (42), field goals made in a game (20) *Second: Career field goals made (797), free throws made (416) *Fourth: Rebounds (746) *Fifth: Field goal percentage (.542), assists (399) *Seventh: Blocked shots (69)

Creighton statistics

Source

Coaching career

Creighton assistant / Loras College (1986–92)

Yori began her coaching career at her ''alma mater'' in 1986, the same year she graduated in May 1986 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in journalism. After spending three seasons assisting the Bluejays program, Yori moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

where she earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in sports administration from St. Thomas University while serving as the head softball coach for one season. Yori's first head coaching job was at

, a

institution in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. She served there for two years (1990–91 and 1991–92). She compiled records of 10–15 and then 15–10 to bring her two-year stint to a 25–25 overall record (17–19 in conference play).

Creighton (1992–2002)

In 1992–93, Yori secured the head coaching job back at Creighton after her former coach and mentor,

Bruce Rasmussen Bruce Rasmussen (born March 18, 1961) is an American television producer and writer. He was the supervising producer with the hit TV series ''Roseanne'' in 1992, for which he was awarded a Golden Globe, a Peabody, and a Humanitas Prize, and wen ...

, accepted an associate director position at the school. She had immediate success in her first season as she led the Bluejays to the school's second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, earning the 10th-seed in the Midwest Region. Creighton would lose to eventual national champion

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the second round. Despite a 24–7 overall record (12–4 in conference play) in 1993–94, Yori's second, the Bluejays did not get invited to a postseason tournament. It would be Yori's personally best season as head coach until her final year with Creighton in 2001–02. That season, Creighton once again compiled a 24–7 overall record (16–2 conference) to claim the 2002

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

regular-season and tournament championships. The Bluejays, seeded 12th in the Mideast Region, would lose to

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

in the first round 73–58.

Nebraska (2002–16)

The Cornhuskers struggled mightily in Yori's first season as head coach in 2002–03. They finished the season last in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

(12th place) and recorded an 8–20 overall record (1–15 conference). The following season, Nebraska had a 10-game turnaround as they finished 18–12 (7–9). They were invited to the

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament. It used to feature both a preseason and postseason version played every year, but the preseason tournament was last held in 2023. It is operate ...

(WNIT) where they made it to the second round. Over the course of the next five seasons, Nebraska compiled an overall record of 95–65 (41–39), never placing higher than 4th in the conference. Yori led them to two NCAA Tournaments (

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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) but did not make it past the first or second round, respectively.

2009–10 season

The 2009–10 season was the most successful year in the Nebraska women's basketball program's history. After finishing the 2008–09 campaign with a 15–16 (6–10, T-7th) record, the Cornhuskers rolled through the 2009–10 season with an undefeated 29–0 (16–0) regular season, becoming the first team in Big 12 history to record an unbeaten regular season, and only the second to record a perfect conference record. They won their first regular season conference title, but were upset by

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. Nebraska was unranked in every preseason poll, but at the season's end were #4 in both the

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and Coaches' Polls. They had never even been ranked in the top 10 before, but spent the last nine weeks of the regular season in the top 10, peaking at #3 for a time. Yori guided the Cornhuskers to the program's first-ever #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. After posting 83–44 and 83–70 victories over

Northern Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, respectively, Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. They were then upset by the 4th-seeded

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

, 76–67, where their season would end at 32–2. After shattering the old program record of 23 for wins in a season, and for Nebraska's 15-game turnaround, Yori received the Big 12 Conference, WBCA Region 5,

U.S. Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The US ...

(USBWA),

Coach of the Year and Naismith Coach of the Year awards. She was also named the inaugural winner of the Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award, which is given to the women's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition who displays great character both on and off the court. On April 5, 2016, Yori resigned after 14 years at the helm; the

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in ...

reported that the resignation came after an investigation by the athletic department revealed Yori mistreated players. Yori posted a record of 280–166 and led the Huskers to a pair of conference titles and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Nebraska biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yori, Connie 1963 births Living people American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Iowa Basketball players from Des Moines, Iowa Creighton Bluejays women's basketball coaches Creighton Bluejays women's basketball players Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball coaches Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Ankeny, Iowa Sportspeople from Polk County, Iowa St. Thomas University (Florida) alumni Guards (basketball) 20th-century American sportswomen