Mickie Faye DeMoss (born October 3, 1955) is an American former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and player. She was the women's

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. She was also an assistant coach at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

, Memphis State University, and the WNBA's

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

. DeMoss was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2018 as a Contributor - Assistant Coach. She retired after 45 years of coaching basketball in some capacity in July 2022, while chief of staff for Georgia Tech women's basketball.

Early years

DeMoss was born in

Delhi, Louisiana Delhi (), originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,622. History In 1890, the Delhi Institute was founded in Delhi, Louisiana; a Black private school ...

. After a standout high school career, she went to

, where she started at point guard for her final three years. Immediately after her graduation with a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

degree in 1977, she began her coaching career as an assistant at Memphis State (now Memphis). In 1979, she became the first full-time women's basketball coach in the history of the

. After four seasons and a 45–68 record, she left to become an assistant at

under Joe Ciampi. In both of her seasons at Auburn, they made the NCAA Tournament. More importantly for the direction of her career, she established herself as a top-notch recruiter. In the four seasons (1985–1989) after she left Auburn, players she helped recruit gave the Lady Tigers a 119–13 record and went to two Final Fours.

Tennessee

In 1985, DeMoss was hired by

Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time ...

to be her top assistant at the

. During her 18 seasons in Knoxville, the Lady Vols went to 13

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

s and won six NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships. As at Auburn, she played a key role as a recruiter, this time as the official recruiting coordinator.

Kentucky

DeMoss returned to the head coaching ranks in 2003, taking on the job at the

. The Wildcats had fallen off considerably from their glory years of the early 1980s, when the then-LadyKats were regularly competing for

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) honors. In the two years before DeMoss came to Lexington, the Wildcats had won a total of 20 games. The Wildcats had averaged little over 1,000 in per-game attendance. DeMoss's first priority at Kentucky was recruiting; her first team was widely considered that year to be among the top 10 in the nation. Season ticket sales increased to over 3,000, and the Wildcats led the nation in increased attendance that season, averaging nearly 5,200. Despite an 11–16 record in 2003–04, the team showed marked improvement, reducing their average margin of defeat in SEC play by nearly 9 points. The following season the Wildcats went 18–16, achieving their first winning season since 1999–00. They made a strong run in the 2005 Women's National Invitation Tournament, losing to

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

in the semifinals in double overtime. DeMoss's breakthrough season with Kentucky proved to be her third year in the 2005–06 season. She entered with one of the youngest team roster in women's college basketball: one senior supported by nine freshmen and sophomores. The team set a new program record of nine conference wins, including a landmark 66–63 win over then top-ranked Tennessee at Rupp Arena on January 26, 2006; the program placed its highest conference rank since the 1980s at fourth. This enabled the team to return to national ranking since their last time in 1993. The Wildcats returned to the NCAA Tournament having waited seven years; they won in the first round against

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

before losing in the next round to Michigan State. After the season, DeMoss was named SEC Coach of the Year by both her fellow coaches and the

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. Her record at Kentucky at the end of the season was 51–42. The Wildcats, returning all five starters, were ranked 15th in the 2006–07 AP preseason poll, the first preseason ranking for Kentucky in the history of the AP women's poll. On April 11, 2007, DeMoss held a press conference to announce her resignation, abruptly stating "After 30 years of coaching, I just want to step back and reassess what I want to do for the rest of my life.". Four months later, she returned to coaching by taking the assistant position at Texas.

Later years

After leaving her head coaching position at Kentucky, DeMoss spent 3 seasons (2007–2010) as a

assistant coach under head coach Gail Goestenkors. In May 2010, it was announced that DeMoss was returning to Tennessee as an assistant coach under

. On April 2, 2012, DeMoss announced she would leave the

and become an assistant coach for the WNBA's

. Two years to the day after returning to Knoxville, on April 2, 2014, DeMoss was named associate head coach to new head coach Tyler Summitt at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech. In April 2016, Summitt resigned following his admission of an inappropriate relationship. DeMoss was named as interim head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bioTexas Longhorns bioWNBA bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demoss, Mickie 1955 births Living people American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Auburn Tigers women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from Louisiana Florida Gators women's basketball coaches Indiana Fever coaches Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball coaches Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball players LSU Tigers women's basketball coaches Memphis Tigers women's basketball coaches People from Delhi, Louisiana Point guards Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coaches Texas Longhorns women's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportswomen